Former Fox News reporter Jason Donner is suing the network for discrimination and retaliation. According to The Daily Beast, he claims that Fox News fired him because he opposed their inaccurate coverage of the January 6th insurrection.
Donner joined the network in 2010 and worked his way up to become a Capitol Hill reporter and producer. However, in the fall of 2022, the network terminated his employment. Following his departure, he was appointed senior adviser to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).
The former reporter admits in the lawsuit that “he did not share many of the views expressed by Fox News’ Opinion page, or the evening hour television commentators, it did not impact his ability to report on Capitol Hill news until the wake of the 2020 election.”
Furthermore, Donner claims that it “became evident” that he was being targeted for his outspokenness about Fox News’ “false reporting” and political affiliation, so he soon took medical leave.
Donner says he met with human resources in August 2022 to raise a complaint about Carlson’s false reporting and the toxic work environment at Fox News. This was the second time he had complained about Carlson’s coverage of the events of January 6th. Despite calling in sick the following month, Donner was eventually fired.
“This was a pretextual firing based on Donner’s political views and affiliation, his refusal to report false information regarding the 2020 election and January 6th, and for his engaging in protected activity,” the complaint states.
“Ultimately, Fox News wanted to purge the news division of any staff that would not get in line with the directive to only report information that appeased the Trump supporters and former President Trump.”
The Daily Beast says Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
