On Thursday, Jennifer Eckhart and her authorized group had a major legal victory after U.S. District Court docket Decide Ronnie Abrams superior a number of of Eckhart’s claims, ruling that former Fox Information anchor and White Home correspondent Ed Henry can not dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of intercourse trafficking.
TRIGGER WARNING: The next article comprises basic descriptions of sexual violence and rape.
The latest developments come just a bit over a 12 months since former affiliate Fox Information producer Jennifer Eckhart filed her lawsuit in opposition to Fox Information and Henry for a lot of claims, together with intercourse trafficking and most just lately, violations of New York’s revenge porn regulation.
“We’re very happy with the Court docket’s well-reasoned resolution,” Eckhart’s lawyer, Michael J. Willemin instructed PopWrapped by way of e-mail. “Neither Fox Information nor Ed Henry succeeded of their early makes an attempt to flee legal responsibility as to Ms. Eckhart’s allegations of rape, sexual assault and illegal termination.”
Nonetheless, sufficient was sufficient for Ms. Eckhart, desirous to see this lawsuit by means of on behalf of all girls who’ve been equally victimized and compelled into silence by their abusers.
In what appears to be a disturbingly rising variety of expenses in opposition to the previous Fox Information anchor, Eckhart additionally seeks to carry the previous Fox Information anchor out for intercourse trafficking as a result of “she says he used empty guarantees of profession development to defraud her into
PopWrapped obtained a replica of the Court docket’s 52-page Opinion & Order (“Order”), revealing that Ms. Eckhart seeks to carry Henry liable below “a number of authorized theories” together with, however not restricted to intercourse trafficking, retaliatory harassment and trauma, in addition to a sequence of violations of New York’s revenge porn legal guidelines.
Decide Abrams additionally occurs to be the sister of Regulation & Crime’s founder Dan Abrams, who acknowledged the extraordinarily troubling accusations in opposition to each Henry and the community.
It’s necessary to notice that the general case Ms. Eckhart has introduced in opposition to Fox Information is just not over, as each events nonetheless stay within the case with respect to those necessary allegations.
Again in July, Eckhart’s lawyer, Michael J. Willemin throughout oral arguments additionally described Henry’s conduct as “Weinstein-esque, however worse,” which despatched a hauntingly highly effective impact all through the media panorama.
“He hit her,” Willemin mentioned, referring to Henry and his shopper. “He handcuffed her. He bruised her up. He referred to as her a ‘whore.’ He instructed her she doesn’t have a selection.”
The next is a quick summarization of what Decide Abrams articulated within the Order:
Intercourse Trafficking
Within the lawsuit, Ms. Eckhart asserts that Henry is chargeable for intercourse trafficking as a result of she says “he used empty guarantees of profession development to defraud her into coming to his lodge room, then used drive to trigger her to have sexual activity with him.”
The court docket filings additionally point out that this “is just not a standard declare of intercourse trafficking”, the place a person would allege that the perpetrator pressured he/she/they into prostitution or sexual slavery. As a substitute, because of the nature of Ms. Eckhart’s allegations, the Court docket “should settle for as true at this stage of the litigation, comport with the comparatively broad language of the relevant statute”, which classifies as intercourse trafficking the usage of “drive [or] fraud…to trigger [a] individual to have interaction in a …intercourse act…on account of [some] factor of worth.”
In Thursday’s ruling, the Court docket discovered Ms. Eckhart’s declare for intercourse trafficking to be “sufficiently plead.”
Is Henry Liable Beneath New York Metropolis’s ‘Gender Motivated Violence Act’?
In response to court docket paperwork, which PopWrapped has reviewed, Eckhart additionally seeks to carry Henry chargeable for the alleged assaults below New York Metropolis’s Gender Motivated Violence Act.
Primarily based on Thursday’s ruling, the Court docket discovered that Ms. Eckhart’s declare can proceed as a result of she sufficiently “stat[ed] a declare below that statute due to her believable allegations that [Henry] acted with animus towards girls.”
Henry Violating Revenge Porn Legal guidelines within the Ongoing Litigation’s Filings
Maybe what’s most unusual and much more troubling among the many quite a few Weinstein-esque allegations, is that Eckhart seeks to carry Henry out for violation of revenge porn legal guidelines, by means of Henry’s attorneys, who just a few months again, “posted nude images of her on the general public docket on this case in an try to ‘sufferer disgrace’ her.
In its ruling, the Court docket discovered that “…posting these images was not an affordable litigation tactic” which permits for the survival of Ms. Eckhart’s declare, “…as does Eckhart’s associated declare in opposition to Henry for violation of New York’s ‘revenge porn’ regulation.”
Fox Information Stays within the Scorching Seat
Decide Abrams additionally superior a number of harassment-related claims in opposition to Fox Information, stating that “…at this juncture, the Court docket concludes that Eckhart has plausibly alleged that the community knew or ought to have identified about Henry’s sexually harassing conduct however not essentially the particular conduct that quantities to intercourse trafficking,” Abrams discovered.
Sadly, Eckhart’s claims associated to intercourse trafficking because it pertained to the community didn’t survive, nevertheless, Eckhart’s group expressed their satisfaction with Decide Abrams’ latest ruling.
In an e-mail to PopWrapped, a FOX Information spokesperson shared its assertion in response to Thursday’s ruling:
“Whereas we’re happy Decide Abrams dominated in favor of our movement to dismiss the Cathy Areu case, we stay dedicated to defending in opposition to the baseless allegations in opposition to Fox outlined in Jennifer Eckhart’s claims. As we have now beforehand said, upon first studying of Ms. Eckhart’s allegations in opposition to Ed Henry, FOX Information Media instantly commenced a radical unbiased investigation and inside six days dismissed Mr. Henry for trigger. We stay up for proving by means of the invention course of that FOX Information Media takes harassment allegations severely and acted appropriately.”
This Ruling Will probably be Precedent for Future Circumstances
Whereas the continuing litigation is just not but at an finish, the Court docket’s most up-to-date ruling, rejecting the overwhelming majority of Henry’s arguments must be thought-about precedent for future instances that horrifically entail situations of sexual violence and misconduct.
“…we’re happy that the Court docket acknowledged the “profound invasion of privateness and bodily autonomy” ensuing from the unreasonable act of Mr. Henry submitting sure salacious materials on the general public docket, which Ms. Eckhart alleges was an abhorrent Weinstein-esque try to sufferer disgrace. We intend on pushing this case ahead expeditiously and asking a jury to carry each Fox Information and Mr. Henry accountable for his or her alleged conduct.”
Michael J. Willemin, counsel for Jennifer Eckhart
For extra data on this case, please check with Case 1:20-cv-05593-RA-GWG, which was filed on November 09, 2021.
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