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On Sunday, all eyes will turn to Fox for its presentation of Super Bowl LIX.
Behind the scenes, the company is fighting back against a sexual harassment lawsuit raised by a former hairstylist last month.
Fox filed a request Tuesday in Los Angeles to dismiss the lawsuit brought against it by Noushin Faraji, which was first reported by Front Office Sports.
That same day, both Skip Bayless and Joy Taylor, who are listed as defendants in the case, filed separate responses to the allegations and made similar arguments in their defense. Their filings were first reported by Awful Announcing.
Faraji’s 42-page complaint alleged Fox Sports EVP Charlie Dixon and then-host Bayless touched her inappropriately, including Bayless offering her $1.5 million to have sex with him. The suit also claims host Taylor insulted and mocked her. Separately, former host Julie Stewart-Binks filed a suit in January accusing Dixon of “forcefully” sexually assaulting her. Dixon has reportedly been suspended by the network.
Both Bayless and Taylor deny the allegations made against them.
Attorneys for Fox cite the doctrine of “unclean hands,” saying Faraji cannot bring a lawsuit against them because she also engaged in inequitable behavior. The filing claims Faraji “failed to take reasonable steps to avoid or mitigate the damages” she alleges, saying she “had a duty” to do so.
“[Faraji] unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities provided by [Fox] or to avoid harm otherwise, and thus [Faraji’s] claims are barred,” the network’s filing reads. Faraji’s suit says she made multiple complaints to the Human Resources and Employee Relations departments at Fox.
Fox’s filing says that if any of their employees did commit the actions Faraji says they did, they were done “outside the scope of employment and not by agents of [Fox], and thus, [Fox is] not liable for such acts.” And, it says any alleged actions that might be “legally attributable” to the network were “not unlawful inasmuch as the conduct was reasonably and properly based on legitimate business reasons and non-retaliatory factors.” In all, Fox listed 46 reasons why it believed Faraji’s complaint should be thrown out in its entirety.
Bayless and Taylor made similar arguments in their own filings. Bayless denied all allegations against him and said Faraji “consented” to his alleged actions, which include “lingering hugs and kisses on the cheek while putting his body against hers and pressing against her breasts,” according to Faraji’s lawsuit.
Both Bayless and Taylor cite “unclean hands” just as Fox did, and use similar external arguments for Faraji’s “emotional distress albeit with different terms.” Bayless cites “pre-existing psychological or medical conditions,” while Taylor’s filing cites “outside factors.”
Similar to Fox Sports’ defense, Taylor and Bayless argued Faraji’s failure to address her complaints through internal options at Fox Sports should be grounds for dismissal. In her lawsuit, Faraji said she reported multiple incidents to HR, but the office failed to help her.
In his response to Faraji’s claims, Bayless also argues she “consented, by words or conduct, to the conduct alleged.”
Bayless and Taylor filed separate defenses from the network with different representation despite being legally entitled by California law to be represented by their employer and have their defense paid for. Bayless hasn’t worked for the network since August 2024, but could still be covered because he worked at the network during the alleged period in which Faraji’s accusations took place.
Representatives for Fox Sports, Bayless, Taylor, and Faraji did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Fox executives addressed the media in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon ahead of the Super Bowl, and they did not comment on the lawsuits.
“The last thing they want is for this to become a distraction in New Orleans,” a source close to Fox told FOS last month.
