Fox isn’t exactly known for fostering ethical work environments. However, a new lawsuit against Fox Sports, marquee commentator Skip Bayless, and network executive Charlie Dixon has sent shockwaves through the sports broadcasting industry, emphasizing a bleak reality for women in the field.

On January 3, a former hairstylist for the network, Noushin Faraji, filed a lawsuit accusing Bayless, the former co-host of Skip and Shannon: Undisputed from 2016 to 2024, of making unwanted sexual advances toward her, including offering her $1.5 million to sleep with him. The plaintiff also says that Dixon, executive vice president of content at Fox Sports 1, groped her at a party and sexually pursued other women employees.

Other notable defendants listed in the complaint include popular Fox Sports 1 host Joy Taylor, who allegedly dismissed Faraji when she confided in her about the groping incident in 2017 and began mocking her accent in 2021. In one of the lawsuit’s more salacious claims, the plaintiff says that Taylor engaged in a sexual relationship with Dixon to get a position on Undisputed.

The lawsuit alleges a harrowing saga of systematic abuse and complicity over almost a decade. Despite the breadth of the allegations, the majority of online backlash by sports fans, tabloids, and even some commentators has unsurprisingly been directed at Taylor. It reveals a double bind for women working in male-dominated environments, who find themselves in a “damned if do, damned if you don’t” position when it comes to sexuality in the workplace. The online response to Taylor, however, shows a gross enthusiasm by men to discredit women in sports journalism. In an industry that on the surface seems like it’s embracing more women, there seems to be no way to win.

What exactly is Faraji alleging?

In the 42-page lawsuit, initially reported by Front Office Sports, Faraji’s attorneys say that she was “forced to endure a misogynistic, racist, and ableist workplace where executives and talent were allowed to physically and verbally abuse workers with impunity.” It includes counts of sexual battery, hostile work environment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. Faraji is also requesting that her suit be certified as a class action. The complaint includes allegations on behalf of other anonymous Fox employees in California regarding unfair wages and illegal business practices. Fox Corporation, Fox Sports Holding, LLC, Fox Sports 1 LLC, Fox Sports 2 LLC, Dixon, Bayless, Taylor and several anonymous Fox employees are listed as defendants.

In the initial reporting of the lawsuit, Fox Sports told Front Office Sports, “We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation.” Representatives for Dixon, Bayless, and Taylor have yet to comment on the situation. Taylor, however, resumed hosting on FS1’s show Speak on Monday without........

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