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Grabbing the Headlines

By Philip M. Berkowitz
May 26, 2005

No sexual harassment case has received as much attention in the press recently as the one brought against Fox News and television host Bill O'Reilly by former Fox producer Andrea Mackris. This case grabbed the headlines with almost as much fervor as did Anita Hill's claims against then-U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas in 1994, which had previously been the most notorious of sexual harassment claims.

The Mackris/O'Reilly case has frequently been compared with the Hill/Thomas case — not only because of the cases' relative notoriety, but also because they involve similar allegations: that a subordinate employee was subject to verbal harassment. Ms. Mackris, like Ms. Hill, excelled in her job. And, like Ms. Hill, she was given significant opportunities for plum assignments — by her alleged harasser. Among other things, Ms. Mackris interviewed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Ms. Mackris even appears to have accepted O'Reilly's entreaties to return to Fox after she had resigned and gone to CNN. She did this notwithstanding O'Reilly' allegedly harassing conduct, which began, she claimed, even before she left Fox for CNN, and continued after she returned.

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