Noushin Faraji, a former hairstylist for Fox Sports, just dropped a serious lawsuit. She’s claiming that a big-time executive at the network abused his power to sexually harass women. On top of that, she alleges that Skip Bayless got way too familiar, touching her inappropriately and even trying to pay her for sex.
Faraji, who worked with Fox Sports from 2012 until last August, laid it all out in a detailed 42-page lawsuit that was revealed by Front Office Sports. She’s got Fox, Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, and some high-profile names like FOX Sports EVP Charlie Dixon and FS1 host Joy Taylor in her suit as defendants. After starting her role on the “Undisputed” morning show with Skip Bayless, the lawsuit claims that he began giving Faraji “lingering hugs and kisses on the cheek while putting his body against hers and pressing against her breasts.”
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The single mother asserts that she repeatedly informed Bayless that she wasn’t interested in him and that she had a personal rule against dating at work. In an attempt to put an end to his advances, she even shared with him that she was dealing with ovarian cancer due to complications with her left ovary. Instead of backing off, the lawsuit claims that Bayless became increasingly aggressive over the years. He allegedly went as far as offering Faraji $1.5 million in exchange for sex, claiming he could “change” her life. Additionally, the suit states that Bayless accused Faraji of having sex with Shannon Sharpe, his co-star on “Undisputed.”
As the suit alleges: “Approximately one week later, Mr. Bayless made another advance at Ms. Faraji. Ms. Faraji responded: ‘Skip, stop, you have a wife.’ Mr. Bayless responded: ‘Aren’t you Muslim? Doesn’t your dad have three to four wives?’ Ms. Faraji responded that her father was dead, and when Mr. Bayless looked taken aback, she made an excuse to leave.”
Throughout her time at Fox, Faraji claims she filed several complaints with the Human Resources and Employee Relations departments regarding the inappropriate behavior she experienced.
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At the same time, the lawsuit alleges that Joy Taylor started to insult Faraji both personally and professionally after their friendship soured. It also claims that Taylor mocked the way Faraji pronounced words in English, targeting her due to her Persian background.
“Her lengthy tenure at Fox Sports and not-so-thinly-veiled references to multiple anonymous witnesses suggests that she may have the receipts to back up her version of the events,” said Daniel Wallach, a sports law attorney and co-host of the podcast Conduct Detrimental. “Just as importantly, she contemporaneously raised these issues with co-workers, which, in the jurors’ eyes, could boost the credibility of these claims.”
“Ms. Faraji brings forth this action because for over a decade at Fox, she was forced to endure a misogynistic, racist, and ableist workplace where executives and talent were allowed to physically and verbally abuse workers with impunity,” the suit alleges. “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 inexplicably promoted. This case thus represents yet another in a long line of cases chronicling the toxic culture at Fox, marked by bad faith promises and repeated failures to address a poisonous and entrenched patriarchy.”
