Jane Akre, together with her husband Steve Wilson, were former employees of FOX News. In 1997 they refused to work on their story (about Monsanto's use of BGH) after FOX tried to force them to include knowingly false information. They successfully sued under Florida's whistle blower law and were awarded a $425,000 settlement. However, FOX appealed and won, after the court declared that FCC policy against falsification that FOX violated was just a policy and not a "law, rule, or regulation", and so the whistle blower law did not apply. FOX did not dispute that that it tried to force Akre to broadcast a false story, but argued that broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports.

In 2004 FOX countersued Akre and Wilson for trial fees and costs.

External links

• The Media Can Legally Lie: summary story
• foxBGHsuit: website about the case