Fox News has reached a settlement deal with a former host who accused the network of having gender-based pay disparities.
The cable news channel has agreed to pay roughly $15 million to Melissa Francis, an on-air personality for several shows on Fox News and Fox Business Network from 2012 to 2020, The Washington Post reported.
Francis filed the complaint after she attempted to gather data on what her on-air colleagues at Fox News earned ahead of a contract negotiation in 2019. When Francis alerted the company that men were paid many times more than their female counterparts, she claims her concerns were dismissed, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Francis ultimately entered into arbitration with Fox News in August 2020 after the network ignored requests from her lawyers to disclose the salaries of its on-air talent. The network removed Francis from its on-air lineup on October 7, and she resigned in February 2021.
Francis later filed a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor accusing the network of retaliating against her after she highlighted the pay disparities, The Times reported. That complaint is still pending.
The network didn't comment on the settlement, but it did say it is disputing the complaint Francis filed with the state.
"We parted ways with Melissa Francis over a year and a half ago and her allegations were entirely without merit," the company said in a statement. "We have also fully cooperated with the New York State Department of Labor's investigation and look forward to the completion of this matter."
Similarly, neither Francis nor her attorney Kevin Mintzer commented on the settlement amount. Mintzer did, however, offer some thoughts on the labor complaint.
"Melissa filed her charge with the Department of Labor not for herself but for the women of the company who are still there," Mintzer told The Daily Beast. "Contrary to Fox News' false claims about a 'new era,' what happened to Melissa shows that sexism and retaliation are still prevalent at the network. We continue to cooperate with the Department of Labor, and we look forward to receiving the findings of their investigation."
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