Judge Dismisses Ex-Host's Wiretapping Suit Against Fox News
U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York said Tantaros failed to state a claim and her suit was "based primarily on speculation and conjecture."
May 18, 2018 at 08:07 PM
2 minute read
Andrea Tantaros, the former Fox News host who has accused network personnel of sexual harassment, has seen her companion lawsuit alleging that she was subjected to illegal surveillance dismissed by a Manhattan federal judge.
U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York said Tantaros failed to state a claim and her suit was “based primarily on speculation and conjecture.”
Tantaros, in the 2017 lawsuit, said Fox “targeted her for electronic and physical surveillance after she lodged complaints of sexual harassment against [Roger] Ailes and other Fox News executives,” Daniels opinion said.
The dismissal covers Tantaros' claims under two federal statutes protecting communications and computer privacy: the Wiretap Act and Stored Communications Act. It also gets rid of a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Daniels said the plaintiff failed to allege under the Wiretap Act that any defendant “actually intercepted, or tried to intercept” any of her communications. Even if it could be established that any of the defendants had installed malware on Tantaros' personal computer or work cellphone—an allegation Daniels said had “scant factual support”—the most the complaint states is that the defendants had the capability to intercept her communications, not that it was actually done.
The court also said that while the Second Circuit has yet to rule on the issue several U.S. circuit courts of appeal have ruled that the SCA does not apply to personal devices. Moreover, Daniels said, allegations that defendants accessed any of her personal communications were “vague, speculative and conclusory.” The complaint further failed to state that Ailes, former Fox News president Bill Shine or any other employee of the network actually accessed her personal accounts.
Daniels' opinion does not address allegations of sexual harassment that were the subject of a previous lawsuit filed by Tantaros against network executives and personnel. That lawsuit was filed in August 2016. New York Supreme Court Justice David Cohen said last year that those claims were subject to arbitration.
A press representative for Fox News said the decision speaks for itself.
Tantaros, who was representing herself pro se in the wiretapping suit, could not immediately be reached for a comment.
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