NEW YORK — Last summer, as it wrapped up multiple settlements after the Roger Ailes sexual harassment scandal, Fox News and its parent company, 21st Century Fox, were trying hard to end the ugliest chapter in its 20-year history.
The downfall of Ailes, the former chairman and chief executive, had exposed a newsroom culture that many women there called hostile and demeaning. 21st Century Fox ordered an internal investigation and stated publicly that “behavior that disrespects women’’ would not be tolerated.
Nearly eight months later, the company finds itself still dealing with fallout from that crisis. In late February, 21st Century Fox reached a settlement worth more than $2.5 million with a former Fox News contributor who reported that she was sexually assaulted by an executive at company headquarters two years ago, according to people briefed on the agreement.
The contributor, Tamara N. Holder, 37, has said that the network executive tried to force her to perform oral sex on him in February 2015 when the two were alone in his office, according to interviews with four people briefed on her account, and documents that detail her claims. Holder did not immediately report the episode to the company or the police, fearing that doing so would ruin her career, interviews and documents show.
Holder reported her allegations to Fox News last fall. The network investigated her claims, and the executive, Francisco Cortes, the vice president for Fox News Latino, was terminated, according to two people familiar with the matter. Holder left Fox News after her contract expired on Jan. 1.
A lawyer for Cortes did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Cortes did not respond to messages that were sent by e-mail and through social media platforms.
Phone calls to numbers believed to be for his home and cellphone were not answered. A man came to the door at the address in New Jersey listed for Cortes, but did not open it.
In a rare public disclosure on Wednesday, Fox News released a joint statement with Holder saying that in September 2016 she “reported an incident of sexual assault at Fox News headquarters from the prior year.’’
“Immediately after Ms. Holder notified Fox News of the alleged incident, the company promptly investigated the matter and took decisive action, for which Ms. Holder thanks the network,’’ the statement continued.
“Fox News is grateful to Ms. Holder for her many contributions during her tenure at the network and wishes her continued success.’’
In an e-mail, Holder said: “Yes, I was sexually assaulted. Immediately after I told the company where I worked about the incident, it promptly investigated the matter and took action, which I appreciate.’’
Ailes has denied the sexual harassment claims against him.
In the months since Ailes’s departure, 21st Century Fox has struck agreements with several women who made sexual harassment complaints about Ailes and others at the network.
They include a $20 million settlement with Gretchen Carlson, whose lawsuit against Ailes in July led to his ouster; a deal with Juliet Huddy, a longtime Fox News personality who made sexual harassment claims against the network’s top-rated host, Bill O’Reilly; and now the agreement with Holder, who had been a legal and political analyst at Fox News since 2010.
Holder, 37, worked as a civil rights and criminal defense lawyer in Chicago before she started as a contributor at Fox News in 2010. Over the years, she provided legal analysis and left-leaning political commentary. She appeared on Sean Hannity’s show and also started a digital show for Fox News called “Sports Court’’ about legal and political issues in sports. She also performs stand-up comedy.
After Ailes’s ouster, Holder decided to come forward with her claims. In late September 2016, Holder told Dianne Brandi, the top lawyer at Fox News who long worked under Ailes, that she had been “sexually assaulted,’’ but did not state who was involved or provide details of what had occurred, according to the people briefed on her account and documents viewed by The New York Times.
Holder was offered $300,000 in severance, equal to about one year of her contract, the interviews and documents show. She rejected the offer. Fox News executives tried to determine what had happened so that they could investigate the allegations.
In late October, she disclosed the details of her claims to Fox News executives. Fox News investigated, and days later Cortes was terminated, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
