Judge Dismisses Lawsuit From Ex-Fox News Journo Who Said He Was Fired for Calling Out ‘False’ Jan 6 Reports

January 6, 2021 – Washington, DC, United States: President Donald Trump speaking at a rally in Washington, DC (Photo by Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

A judge in Washington, D.C. dismissed a lawsuit from former Fox News reporter Jason Donner in which he claimed he was fired in retaliation for his “refusal to report false information” about the 2020 election and the January 6 Capitol Riot.

Judge Amir H. Ali sided with Fox News against Donner on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Donner argued in his 2023 lawsuit he was discriminated against under the D.C. Human Rights Act for refusing to frame his coverage to President Donald Trump’s liking and for calling out how the network was covering the aforementioned stories. That argument was not bought by Judge Christoper R. Cooper in 2024, who wrote the following:

At root, Donner alleges he was targeted because he objected to Fox News’ fallacious reporting and its editorial decision to align the network with President Trump and the ‘MAGA faction of the Republican Party.

The Court does not doubt that, apart from trying to uphold basic standards of journalistic integrity, Donner’s objections to Fox’s reporting had a political valence. But that is not enough to state a valid claim because the DCHRA protects “political affiliations,” not political positions or perspectives.

Ali on Monday dismissed the other part of Donner’s lawsuit, which claimed he was fired in September 2022 for taking a sick day as punishment for his beef with the network’s coverage of Jan. 6 and the 2020 election.

“The facts developed in discovery show a different picture — one in which Donner did not call his supervisor to report he was sick ‘prior to the start of his workday,’ but rather slept in, knowing he was sick and telling a coworker, but not his supervisor,” Ali wrote.

Donner — who worked at Fox News for 12 years before he was booted — had received a COVID-19 vaccine and was not feeling well afterwards, but “did not let his supervisor or anyone else at Fox know on Sunday that he wouldn’t work the next day.” A coworker told him that Monday to contact his supervisor ASAP about missing work, but Donner “went back to sleep” before eventually texting his supervisor at 11:30 a.m.

When the supervisor called him the next day about his failure to give notice, Donner was “emotional” and “defensive,” according to Ali’s filing.

Ali said that by failing to alert his boss as soon as he knew he’d miss work, Donner could not argue he was fired illegally based on D.C. law.

Donner has since left the news business and is a senior vice president at Davis Communications Group, according to his LinkedIn.

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