Fox employee claims she was fired in retaliation for accusing boss of sexual assault in shocking lawsuit

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A Jane Doe claims she was retaliated against and wrongfully terminated as a contractor for Fox Corporation after she reported that her boss sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions, a stunning lawsuit claims.

In the complaint, which was filed in Los Angeles County this week, the Jane Doe – who is a black woman who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ community – alleges she was subjected to gender and race discrimination, as well as harassment due to a hostile work environment.

Jane Doe’s lawsuit comes roughly a year after she joined in another complaint filed by former Fox Corp. security director Jared Rasmussen, who accused the Rupert Murdoch-owned company of retaliation and wrongful termination after he reported that Doe had been sexually assaulted by her supervisor.

In the suit filed this week, Jane Does claims that her employment with Fox began around 2020 as a contractor through security firm Constellis, and that she reported to Veantea Burnside, who was then the Director of Special Events and Security at Fox. Additionally, Burnside is the chief executive officer of Valsh, which was briefly responsible for paying Jane Doe during her employment with Fox.

After she says she assumed the role of security coordinator and joined Fox’s security department, according to the lawsuit, Jane Doe alleges that she began working closely with several Fox executives and “quickly discovered that the work environment was unprofessional and toxic—characterized by vulgar language, sexually and racially inappropriate ‘humor,’ and coercive substance and alcohol abuse.”

Specifically, she claims one high-ranking security executive “regularly made racially charged comments such as referring to himself as the team’s ‘slave-driver’ and how he was ‘cracking the whip.’” All the while, Jane Doe asserts she was repeatedly told not to “get too comfortable” because “black girls don’t last around here” and witnessed other racially and sexually discriminatory behavior.

“In another instance, another member of the security department sat back-to-back against PLAINTIFF and pulled her braids over his own head without her consent—while other employees laughed and took photos,” the lawsuit alleges.

It was in May 2021, however, when Jane Doe alleges that Burnside first sexually assaulted her after she began working under his supervision. During the trip to Delaware for a NASCAR event, Jane Doe claims that Burnside coerced her into acting as his personal assistant and chauffeur, which resulted in him pressuring her to consume alcohol after inviting her to dinner and later to his hotel room.

Claiming that Burnside pushed her to “stay a little bit longer” despite it being after midnight, Jane Doe alleges that he “lunged towards” her “and began unbuttoning her pants” before pinning her down on his bed and penetrating her.

The lawsuit states that in her “state of shock and terror” after the incident, Jane Doe was involved in a “severe automobile accident” that left her “incapacitated” and with no other option than to contact Burnside, “who seized the opportunity to exploit plaintiff’s vulnerable position.” The complaint further alleges that Burnside “adamantly prevented” Jane Doe from going to the hospital, speculating that it was so she couldn’t “report” on the sexual battery he subjected her to.

Following that first incident, the lawsuit claims, Jane Doe alleges that she discovered that Burnside “had a history of sexually violent behavior and that she was not his only victim.” She also claims that Burnside began spreading “false rumors” about her disparaging her performance in “an attempt to isolate” her, adding that he threatened to reduce her hours and wages.

The following year, after she was promoted to security operations manager for Fox’s United States Football League events, Jane Doe claims that Burnside once again sexually assaulted her. In this instance, the lawsuit alleges, she was tricked into believing they were heading to a hotel room that Burnside was not staying in.

“Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that Burnside reserved a spare room and goaded plaintiff there for the sole purpose of committing sexual violence against her,” the lawsuit read.

Following the second assault, Jane Doe alleges that Burnside threatened to out her as a member of the LGBTQ community as he “knew and expected” that Fox executives “would discriminate and retaliate against” her because of her sexual orientation. Jane Doe also claims she was passed over for a promotion in 2023, which was given to a white man.

The complaint goes on to state that Rasmussen, who supported Jane Doe for the promotion, was told about Burnside’s conduct towards the plaintiff in February, and that she wished to remain anonymous because she feared retaliation due to Fox’s “deeply sexist culture.” Rasmussen, according to the complaint, immediately informed Fox’s Vice President of Global Security Operations Christopher Ganny, who “failed to take immediate and reasonable action” because the victim was anonymous.

“Instead, FOX began a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation in order to silence plaintiff and Rasmussen,” the lawsuit states, claiming that Rasmussen escalated Jane Doe’s whistleblower complaint a few days later.

The lawsuit asserts that Fox’s human resources department “conducted a sham investigation solely aimed at identifying—and silencing—the whistleblower” while attempting to force Rasmussen to reveal Jane Doe’s identity, which included threatening him with termination for “not complying” with the probe.

Eventually, according to the lawsuit, Jane Doe’s identity was revealed after the HR executives “falsely” represented themselves as “fox legal” when they contacted her as part of a “cold calling” operation where they contacted women who worked under Burnside. Jane Does claims that she ultimately disclosed her identity as the victim and whistleblower because she believed she had no other options.

The complaint then alleges that HR concluded that the alleged sexual assaults by Burnside were “consensual” and that “what you and [Burnside] do in your personal lives is none of FOX’s business,” which she claims was their attempt to “gaslight her into believing that the rape she suffered was consensual.”

“Although Burnside was terminated soon after for an unrelated matter relating to his fraudulent business activities, following plaintiff’s protected whistleblower activity, she felt an immediate and palpable shift in the way FOX’s executives treated her,” the lawsuit notes.

From there, according to Jane Doe, both she and Rasmussen were subjected to a “retaliatory” scheme by Fox executives, which resulted in their terminations later that year. The lawsuit states that Fox’s “malicious and deliberate mishandling” of her complaint against Burnside has “inflicted and exacerbated the trauma” she still feels today.

In her lawsuit – which alleges harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation and sex trafficking, among other complaints – Jane Doe is seeking economic damages in excess of $5 million and compensatory damages over $10 million.

“This lawsuit exposes a systemic culture of abuse, discrimination, and retaliation at Fox. Our client endured the unimaginable – she was the victim of sexual violence, harassment, and blatant retaliation from executives who sadly chose to shield abusers, rather than protect employees,” Jane Doe’s lawyer Joseph Jeziorkowski told The Independent. “These are not isolated incidents—they reflect a toxic environment condoned at the highest levels, at the expense of marginalized employees. We are proud of our client, for courageously standing up for her rights and the rights of others, and Valiant Law will pursue this case aggressively and hold every responsible party fully accountable in court.”

This lawsuit comes as Fox Sports is reportedly in the final stages of reaching a settlement with a hairstylist who claimed that sports talk show host Skip Bayless had repeatedly made unwanted sexual advances towards her.

Earlier this year, Fox Sports executive vice president Charlie Dixon parted ways with the network after he was named in both the hairstylist’s complaint and another lawsuit in which reporter Julie Stewart-Binks said she was assaulted by Dixon in 2016. Stewart-Binks’ suit was resolved in July after she entered into settlement negotiations with Fox in April.

The Independent has reached out to representatives for Fox Corp., Burnside, Valsh, Constellis, and the other named defendants for comment.