Back in 2019, I was a Teleprompter Operator for Fox News & Fox Business. I resigned from my role and relocated to Florida to follow my dream of being a news producer—outside of NYC. After bouncing around from a few gigs, I landed back at Fox Corp in 2021. I was working remotely on FBN shows like Wall Street Journal at Large and Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street. Upon my rehiring, I had agreed to relocate NYC by January 1, 2022. My goal was to become a producer for Tucker Carlson. It was the only reason I’d ever consider relocating to that liberal wasteland again.
I should have known that things at Fox Corp had drastically changed since my 2019 days. Upon my rehiring, I received an email from an individual in Human Resources with their pronouns in their email signature. Maybe that should have been my first clue that Fox Corp had shifted.
Sadly, that was not the only alarming email I had received. In 2021, I was asked to submit my vaccination status voluntarily in an email. I declined to do so. Weeks later, I was told it was now mandatory. Human Resources wanted to know my vaccination status and my vaccination records. As a remote employee, I ignored the first three emails that were sent to me. Even one email that came from the office of Suzanne Scott. I only replied after receiving a personal email from a higher up atHuman Resources. This individual was demanding my vaccination records.I responded by informing them that this demand made me feel extremely uncomfortable. This individual stated that the information was only being used to coordinate seating arrangements—for when I return to the NYC office. This individual offered me the option to get on a call to discuss my reluctance but I declined. When you’ve worked in media for as long as I have, you know these issues need to be documented through emails, phone calls give them the luxury of fabricating the discussion.
So being that my back was against the wall, I submitted my vaccination information. I figured if I comply they’d leave me alone. Sadly, that’s never how these things end. I knew better.
After packing up my beautiful Florida apartment in late December, I was relocating back to New York City for work. My remote role as a Fox Business booking producer was going to become an in-person position starting on January 3, 2022.
The day I moved into my new apartment, I was completely caught off guard by an email that was forwarded to me by my Executive Producer. In the email, I was informed that I had to receive my first dose of the experimental Covid vaccine within a matter of days. The email threatened to put me on unpaid leave if I did not meet the deadline. The email citied the illegal NYC private sector mandate for their reasoning. This email was never directly sent to me by Human Resources. The email also offered $500 to every vaccinated employee who turned in their vaccination details by a certain deadline. I only received the email once my EP forwarded a copy to me—the day I moved back to NYC/NJ.
Why would Fox Corp’s Human Resources department withhold this information after hounding me for my vaccination status? The only logical explanation I was able to formulate is they intentionally withheld this information from me thinking I would comply after I relocated. These are my beliefs.
I was now forced to face the reality that if I did not get the experimental vaccine, I would be placed on unpaid leave. My stomach turned. I had just spent thousands of dollars on relocating. I broke my Florida lease, paid for movers, rented cars, paid for hotels, paid nearly $4,000 for my new apartment, and more.
Do I take the jab and dodge being placed on unpaid leave? Hell no. You don’t give in. I learned that lesson the first time. So I emailed HR and got on the phone with an FBN executive. No one was willing to give me an alternative route until my Executive Producer stepped in. Two sources confirmed that my EP had to plea for me not to be put on unpaid leave. They said I had been doing my job remotely for nearly six months and didn’t see a reason why I couldn’t continue to do so. The liberal hacks in HR said I committed to moving back and coming into the office by the beginning of 2022 (before I knew any of this). They were looking to hold me to that commitment. Keep in mind–I made that commitment not knowing about the vaccine mandate.
Fox Corp’s HR finally gave in a granted me permission to work remotely. But their harassment didn’t stop there.
I watched all my vaccinated colleagues contract the virus just days after Christmas. Thankfully, they are all fine now. So the humor in this can be appreciated. My vaccinated coworkers were the superspreaders in the office.
Fox Corp went above and beyond what these illegal vaccine mandates required. For an example, Biden’s illegal executive order which required weekly testing for the unvaccinated didn’t go far enough for Fox Corp. They demanded that their unvaccinated employees commit to daily testing.
The DC bureau required us to ask guests to fill out forms before they came into the studio. The digital forms asked guests for their personal vaccination details. I cringed every time they forced us to send it to guests.
In former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s illegal vaccine mandate, he exempts individuals that have to enter “the workplace for a quick and limited purpose.” Being that I am a weekend producer, I technically could just enter the building to do my two weekend show’s pre-tapes and leave immediately after since the order does not give you a time restriction. Fox Corp’s HR told me that they interpreted this as someone entering the office for 15 minutes or less. This is not in the illegal mandate–HR single-handedly did this to discriminate against me.
Keep in mind, the Supreme Court shot down Joe Biden’s private sector vaccine mandate prior to my relocation to NYC. Meaning, SCOTUS ruled that Biden did not have the authority to mandate this. So why would the out-going NYC Mayor have the authority to do this?
The illegal mandate is also poorly written. For one, the mandate did not assign an agency to enforce the order. Secondly, it did not list any penalties. I even asked HR if they had any plans to sue the city over this illegal mandate. They informed me they did not. Apparently I was the only one who appreciated our Constitutional right to a Free Press.
It is also important to note that Fox Corp employs an entire legal department If they wanted to, they could have made the legal argument. Especially since the Supreme Court tossed out Biden’s private sector mandate before all of this went down. From what I was told, Fox Corp only wanted to comply. They did not want to fight back.
