A longtime hairdresser at Fox Sports has sued the company, alleging that she was fired after raising a series of concerns about workplace misconduct, and after repeatedly refusing to have sex with host Skip Bayless.
The plaintiff, Noushin Faraji, alleges in the suit that she declined Bayless’ offer of $1.5 million to have sex with him. He later angrily accused her of sleeping with his “archrival” and co-host Shannon Sharpe, which she denied, according to the suit.
“Mr. Bayless then warned that he doesn’t want her to lose her job over this,” the lawsuit states.
Faraji also alleges that the Fox human resources department protected powerful abusers. She named several other defendants in her suit, including Charlie Dixon, the executive vice president of content, and Joy Taylor, who was the moderator on Bayless and Sharpe’s debate show, “Undisputed.”
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The suit alleges that Taylor was hired because she was having an affair with Dixon. Faraji also alleges that Dixon groped her buttocks during an office birthday party. When she complained about that to Taylor, Taylor told her to forget about it, and reminded her that both women only had their jobs because of Dixon, and they could both lose them, the lawsuit alleges.
In response to the suit, a Fox spokesperson said, “We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation.”
The suit alleges that Bayless made numerous unrequited advances to Faraji over the course of several years. He would kiss Faraji on the cheek and give her lingering hugs, pressing his body against hers. He later became more “aggressive and direct,” the suit alleges, but she declined his advances, saying she did not date at work.
The advances culminated in July 2021, when he offered her $1.5 million to sleep with him, the suit states. She made an excuse to leave. A week later, he again made an advance, and she said, “Skip, stop, you have a wife,” the suit states.
A year later, Faraji recorded a conversation with Bayless, according to the suit, in which he accused her of sleeping with Sharpe. In the conversation, he allegedly said that he would hate for Faraji to lose her job, but she could not be “doing a big thing with my archrival.”
“I have love for you, and I have for six years, and you hurt me, and you are ruining this,” he allegedly said, according to the suit.
A year later, Bayless told her that Dixon wanted to fire her, but that he had protected her job.
Faraji, who is Iranian, alleges she was also subjected to racial and ethnic discrimination while working at Fox.
Bayless left Fox Sports last summer, after eight years with the network. He previously worked for many years at ESPN. He now hosts a weekly podcast, “The Skip Bayless Show.”
The suit alleges that Faraji was fired for pretextual reasons after “Undisputed” was canceled. According to the suit, her schedule was reduced and she was ultimately terminated, as the network explained it only needed one hairdresser for three shows.
“When Ms. Faraji and others came forward to report the wrongdoing, instead of addressing their concerns, Fox retaliated against them while the perpetrators and those who protected them were inexplicitly (sic) promoted,” the lawsuit states. “This case thus represents yet another in a long line of cases chronicling the toxic culture at Fox.”
The suit accuses Bayless and Dixon of sexual battery and sexual harassment. It also accuses Fox of harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination, among other claims.