Fox agrees to overhaul work culture

In the aftermath of the sexual harassment scandal at its Fox News division, 21st Century Fox has struck a settlement with a shareholder that is intended to overhaul the workplace culture at the network.

The agreement announced Monday calls for the creation of a new oversight panel — the Fox News Workplace Professionalism and Inclusion Council — comprising two human resources executives at the company and four independent experts. The council will provide written reports to 21st Century Fox directors and, in an effort to increase transparency, publish those findings on the company’s website.

The settlement was reached with a 21st Century Fox shareholder, the City of Monroe Employees’ Retirement System in Michigan, and was more than a year in the making. The agreement resolves a legal complaint that the shareholder filed in Delaware on Monday and includes a $90 million payment to 21st Century Fox from third-party insurers, minus the cost of lawyer fees and other expenses.

The settlement helps to recoup the large financial toll that the harassment and racial discrimination crisis has had on 21st Century Fox.

The company has incurred about $50 million in costs tied to the settlement of sexual harassment and discrimination allegations involving Fox News in a one-year period that ended June 30.

That figure does not include money paid out to two of Fox News’ most prominent figures after they each faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment: $40 million to Roger Ailes, the former chairman who was ousted in 2016, and $25 million to Bill O’Reilly, the cable news host who was forced out last spring.

Ailes, who died in May, and O’Reilly denied the allegations against them.

As 21st Century Fox tries to move past the scandal, the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is conducting a criminal investigation into Fox News’ handling of sexual harassment complaints.