Fox moves to fire accuser
BY ADAM
NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, October 16th, 2004
Scandal-hit Fox News moved yesterday to fire an employee who says
she was sexually harassed by Bill O'Reilly - but wants a judge to declare
the canning isn't retribution.
Andrea Mackris, 33, said she was served legal papers about her
termination by a man lying in wait for her at her Manhattan apartment
building.
The documents said Fox had asked a judge to let the TV station dump her
from a $93,200-a-year job as associate producer on "The O'Reilly Factor" -
and to rule that the firing was not in retaliation for her accusations
about the show's host.
Mackris sued O'Reilly and Fox News on Wednesday, saying her boss had
made "disgusting" phone calls to her. O'Reilly sued Mackris the same day,
alleging extortion.
"I was walking into my apartment and there was a man hiding inside my
building," Mackris told CNN's Anderson Cooper last night.
"I don't have a doorman. He had somehow got into my building and he was
hiding behind my stairwell. He said, 'Oh, you're her.' He hit me in the
chest with the papers and said, 'You're served.'"
"They're threatening me. They're frightening me," Mackris said. "Yes,
I'm rattled, but I'm really strong."
Mackris' lawyer Benedict Morelli also was served with the papers.
He said, "They want the right to fire my client and for a court to find
that firing nondiscriminatory.
"They will never get that right. They sued their own employee. Have you
ever heard of anyone suing their own employee? Can you believe that?
"It'll be considered next week, but there is no way I'll let it
happen."
Mackris claims O'Reilly, a best-selling author and writer, started
making sexual comments to her back in 2001. She said they escalated after
she returned to Fox News after a short stint at CNN this year.
She claims his remarks included telling her to use a vibrator, tales
about his sexual conquests and his "amazing" endowment, and three phone
sex calls in which he told of fantasies involving her.
In their countersuit, O'Reilly and Fox News say Mackris and her lawyer
tried to extort $60 million in return for her dropping the harassment
case.
O'Reilly has said he has been instructed not to speak about the issue.
His lawyers did not return phone calls yesterday.
