10-28-2004, 06:05 PM
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 746
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Bill OReilly Vindicated
Funny how the media won't be all over this like they were when they broke the story.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...dia_oreilly_dc
Quote:
O'Reilly Harassment Case Settled Out of Court
29 minutes ago Entertainment - Reuters
By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly and a co-worker who had accused him of sexual harassment have reached an out-of-court settlement, agreeing to drop all allegations against each other, lawyers for Fox said on Thursday.
The sensational case had turned the news spotlight on the outspoken O'Reilly, a darling of America's political conservatives who hosts the top-rated program on the nation's leading all-news cable network.
Andrea Mackris, 33, an associate producer for "The O'Reilly Factor," had sued the talk show host earlier this month, claiming he had repeatedly pressured her to engage in sexually explicit conversations over the phone, talking about vibrators, masturbation and pleasuring himself at times as he spoke.
Anticipating the complaint, O'Reilly and Fox News already filed their own suit earlier the same day, accusing Mackris and her lawyer, Benedict Morelli, of trying to extort $60 million in "hush money" from him by threatening to go public with false allegations of sexual harassment.
In a statement on Thursday, legal firm Becker & Green said all parties had agreed to settle the dispute out of court.
"All cases and claims have been withdrawn and all parties have agreed that there was no wrongdoing whatsoever by Mr. O'Reilly, Ms. Mackris, or Ms. Mackris' counsel," the statement said.
It said O'Reilly's allegation of extortion was withdrawn.
The statement gave no details of the terms of the agreement and did not say whether a financial settlement was involved.
"Out of respect for their families and privacy, all parties and their representatives have agreed that all information relating to the cases shall remain confidential," it said.
Mackris' lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment.
O'Reilly, 55 and the married father of two, had said in his lawsuit that his reputation had been damaged and that he had suffered "great mental strain, anguish and severe emotional distress."
His lawyers had sought access to tapes they believed Mackris had made of her phone conversations with O'Reilly as part of what they said was a plan to extort money from the commentator.
Mackris began working as an associate producer on O'Reilly's program in April 2000. She left for a few months earlier this year to work for rival network CNN but returned to Fox in July. Fox said she had been placed on paid leave since just before the exchange of lawsuits.
Fox News Channel is part of the Fox Entertainment Group, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
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