Mark Steines sues: Hallmark Channel fired me for backing female staffers' sex harassment complaints

BuzzFeed News

Steines, who was blindsided by his abrupt firing from Home & Family in May, is suing Hallmark Channel's parent company Crown Media, alleging he faced retaliation after reporting and relaying alleged sexual harassment, gender discrimination and verbal abuse against executive producer Woody Fraser. Steines, who had co-hosted the daily lifestyle show since 2012, says in the lawsuit that he personally witnessed Fraser engage in sexual harassment and abusive behavior. He alleges that things got worse for him in 2017 after he agreed to cooperate with attorney Lisa Bloom, who was representing two female staffers who accused Fraser of sexual harassment. Fraser, an 83-year-old daytime veteran who was an early mentor to Roger Ailes, called the allegations “an attempt to label me the next ‘Roger Ailes.'”  Steines' lawsuit alleges that management failed to take action. Bloom, who is now representing Steines, says "everything changed, with the network taking away his voiceover work, diminishing his role on the network, reducing his profile at industry events, cutting his salary by 25%, and ultimately firing him months before the end of his contract." Asked to respond, Crown Media said it had not seen the lawsuit, but that the decision to let Steines go was "a measured, strategic and difficult decision" due to the show's ratings decline.