Parents of Ukrainian fixer and journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova file wrongful death lawsuit against Fox News
New York, USA (Svidomi) — The parents of Ukrainian fixer and journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova, who died on March 14, 2022, in the village of Horenka, Kyiv region, have filed a lawsuit against Fox News. The girl's parents accuse Fox News of neglect.
The lawsuit was filed in the New York State Supreme Court by Kuvshinova's parents and Shane Thomson, a security advisor for SEPAR, a UK-based security agency that was contracted at the time by Fox News.
The lawsuit alleges that Fox News sent a group of journalists to an active war zone despite multiple warnings from local officials and a security consultant who advised them against doing so.
Journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova and cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, an Irish citizen, were killed on March 14, 2022, in the village of Horenka, near Kyiv, while making a report. The third member of the team, Benjamin Hall, was injured. The group of journalists came under fire.
Kuvshynova's family also accuses the American television company and its correspondent Benjamin Hall of misrepresenting the circumstances around the journalist's death.
On March 14, 2023, Hall published a book titled "Saved" with HarperCollins, which recounts his journey into and back out of the Ukrainian war zone. In the lawsuit, Kuvshynova's family alleges that the book contains a "false account" of her death. The lawsuit also accuses Fox of promoting the book "for the purpose of deceiving Sasha's (Oleksandra Kuvshynova) parents and the public about Fox's wrongful conduct and accountability for Sasha's death."
"While we understand the grief and continue to mourn the loss of both Pierre Zakrzewski and Sasha Kuvshynova, we will respectfully defend against the inaccurate claims within this lawsuit," Fox News said in the statement. "The safety of our journalists has always been our number one priority, and we are immensely grateful to the Fox News journalists who have covered the war in Ukraine and we remain committed to reporting from the region."
After his daughter's death, the Ukrainian woman's father said, Fox News offered him compensation that covered wage arrears, life insurance and funeral expenses, but forced him to sign a document waiving all claims against the company. The lawsuit states that the man was unaware of the contractual concessions he was making. Zakrzewski's widow was forced to sign the same agreement in exchange for the insurance and funeral benefits.
