Discrimination suits proceed against Fox, minus Roger Ailes

NEW YORK (AP) — The sudden death of Fox News founder Roger Ailes won't slow the march of litigation swirling around the network, legal observers and lawyers involved in the suits said.

Three new lawsuits by people alleging a hostile work environment were filed just days after his death at age 77. And while Ailes was a potential witness in some lawsuits, his absence is unlikely to matter much.

For one, the lawsuits — like most litigation — are likely to be resolved without a trial. And Ailes was never named as a defendant in the majority of suits brought in the last year by employees, former employees and others affiliated with the network.

In the few lawsuits in which he was personally named as a defendant or was considered a potential witness, lawyers said they planned to move forward without him. In one of those lawsuits, former Fox employee Andrea Tantaros, a onetime host of "The Five," claims she was taken off the air after complaining that Ailes subjected her to unwanted sexual comments — an allegation Ailes denied.

Douglas Wigdor, who represents 23 former or current Fox employees suing the company, said Ailes was not a defendant in any of his lawsuits, which mostly pertain to claims over race, gender, pregnancy and workplace retaliation. Only a handful included allegations of sexual harassment, none of which involved Ailes personally.

Wigdor said that he might have called Ailes as a witness in race discrimination cases to testify about how he handled various matters, but that he wasn't essential.

The network had already settled claims brought directly against Ailes. Before his death, Ailes denied the allegations against him. His lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Ailes was forced out of Fox News last July after former anchor Gretchen Carlson claimed he sabotaged her career after she spurned his sexual advances.

Then Bill O'Reilly was forced out last month after The New York Times reported that five women had received payouts of about $13 million from O'Reilly or Fox News after making claims of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior.

Fox News declined to speak on the record about ongoing litigation.