Rosenblum and Treasurer Tobias Read, who oversees state investment accounts, and preparing for a lawsuit in June. Their suit, filed Tuesday in the Delaware Chancery Court alongside the New York City Pension Funds, alleges that Fox knew its employees were broadcasting political claims without regard for truth and made no good-faith efforts to monitor or mitigate defamation risk, unlike almost every other news organization in the country.
鈥淭he board of Fox Corporation took a massive risk in pursuing profits by perpetuating and peddling known falsehoods,鈥� Rosenblum said in a statement. 鈥淭he directors鈥� choices exposed themselves and the company to liability and exposed their shareholders to significant risks. That is the crux of our lawsuit, and we look forward to making our case in court.鈥�
Fox had to pay out nearly $800 million to Dominion Voting Systems in an April settlement in a defamation case. Another voting machine company, Smartmatic, has an ongoing lawsuit against Fox and is seeking $2.7 billion in damages.
As of December 2022, about $11.7 million of Oregon鈥檚 $92 billion in state retirement funds were invested with Fox Corporation. That figure dipped substantially over the past several months, and Oregon now holds shares of Fox stocks worth approximately $5.2 million, according to the Attorney General鈥檚 Office.
The complaint also notes a 2020 settlement with the parents of Seth Rich, a murdered Democratic National Committee staffer. Fox News baselessly reported, and , an article claiming Rich leaked emails to WikiLeaks and was murdered for it.
Read said in a statement that the suit is necessary to fulfill the state鈥檚 obligations to retired public employees.
鈥淥ur responsibility to safeguard the retirement investments of Oregon鈥檚 public servants is of the utmost importance,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e aim to hold Fox鈥檚 board of directors, including Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, accountable for their decisions.鈥�
It isn鈥檛 the state鈥檚 first lawsuit over a company鈥檚 business practices harming retirement funds. In 2021, Rosenblum and Read settled with L Brands, then the owner of Victoria鈥檚 Secret, in a similar lawsuit over the company failing to investigate its CEO鈥檚 ties to Jeffrey Epstein and ignoring a culture of sexual harassment. L Brands committed $90 million to protect employees from harassment and pledged to release former employees from nondisclosure agreements as part of that settlement.
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