Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox Corporation for $1.6 billion, alleging that the media corporation repeatedly aired false claims which damaged Dominion's reputation. The lawsuit asserts that Fox News helped spread conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 US presidential election, ultimately costing former President Donald Trump his re-election.
At the heart of this case are the roles of Fox executives, including members of the Murdoch family. Dominion seeks to insulate these individuals from testifying live before a jury by arguing their positions at parent company Fox Corp., distancing them from direct involvement in airing misleading statements on Fox News shows. However, a judge has ruled there was no dispute as to whether false statements were aired but determined it was up to a jury to decide if actual malice occurred.
"Dominion's attorney Justin Nelson told the judge that [Rupert] Murdoch’s undisclosed status at Fox had 'a big impact' on our case", said Nelson, adding that "Fox’s failure to disclose Murdoch” status at Fox has deprived Dominion of information from Murdoch as a custodian of records within his legal rights."
In addition to this high-profile lawsuit against Fox Corporation itself, shareholder Robert Schwarz filed suit against several board members––including Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch––over their alleged negligence in allowing falsehoods about voter fraud during its coverage of the contentious election season.
Schwarz argues that by choosing “to chase viewers by promoting false stolen election claims,” these board members violated their fiduciary duty towards shareholders while knowingly reporting dangerous misinformation.
As it stands now, two separate defamation lawsuits have been filed against both Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic USA seeking combined damages totaling $4 billion over similar allegations related to voting machine manipulation conspiracies aimed at undermining former President Trump's chances for re-election.
The presiding judge overseeing this complex web of legal battles expressed concern over the credibility of Fox News for failing to reveal Rupert Murdoch's official role within their organization.