title:  Gretchen Carlson Fired From Fox News For Refusing To Sleep With Sleazeball Roger Ailes: Lawsuit
text: The offices at Fox News are in what amounts to civil war after longtime host Gretchen Carlson was abruptly and without reason fired   despite her having one of the top-rated shows on the network. Adding to the chaos, she then announced she would be filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against CEO Roger Ailes for what she claimed were demands that she sleep with him or lose her job.In a statement released to the press, Carlson s lawyer detailed the shocking allegations leveled at 76-year-old Ailes:Ms. Carlson, the former co-host of  Fox & Friends,  was terminated on June 23   the very day her latest contract expired, even though her current program,  The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson,  was the leading cable news show in its afternoon time slot.Her complaint alleges that the firing was the ultimate retaliation against her after she rebuffed Mr. Ailes  sexual advances and also tried to challenge what she felt was unequal treatment of her in the newsroom by some of her male colleagues.The statement also included an alleged exchange between Ailes and Gretchen that is said to have taken place last fall when she tried to complain about workplace discrimination. I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you d be good and better and I d be good and better. Sometimes problems are easier to solve  that way.Other details are even more appalling.On Twitter Carlson wrote a brief note to fans, but did not mention the lawsuit directly.As you may have heard, I'm no longer with @FoxNews. I value your support and friendship so please stay in touch: https://t.co/R7JBTsvYSh  Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) July 6, 2016Fox News, of course, is known for rampant levels of misogyny both in front of and behind the camera. According to his own kids, Bill O Reilly, the network s figurehead, is a domestic abuser with an awful temper who has himself been the subject of sexual harassment lawsuits. The network aggressively promotes blonde women and is known to focus an inordinate amount of time on their bare legs. That directive comes directly from Ailes, who once reportedly called down to the control both absolutely furious that an errant laptop was blocking the shot of one of his hosts  legs while she was reading the news. Move that damn laptop, I can t see her legs! And once told former host Catherine Crier: Be more opinionated,  he told Crier in one meeting.  The guests are there as a foil for you.  He also disagreed with her dress.  He had admiration for her legs,  a senior executive said. In one meeting, Ailes barked,  Tell Catherine I did not spend x-number of dollars on a glass desk for her to wear pant suits. Carlson s description of Ailes as a mega sleazeball also jives with what other women have reported having experienced in meetings with the CEO.Shelley Ross, a former newspaper reporter turned television producer, experienced an interview in which Ailes posed romantically suggestive questions and made flirtatious comments about her appearance.  This is making me uncomfortable,  Ross recalled telling Ailes. She had worked with [John] Huddy at The Miami Herald and he had recommended her for the Tomorrow job. In a follow-up telephone interview, she told Ailes that she would never date a boss. Ailes s reaction was, according to Ross,  Don t you know I m single? It is unclear how Ailes will respond to this latest allegation. Clearly, he s had decades worth of practice in making women feel harassed and uncomfortable. Maybe it s time karma came knocking.Featured image via Alex Wong/Newsmakers/Getty and Fox News