How much is a groping worth?

How about one that happened 15 years ago?

The media was delighted when a former Fox News producer filed a lawsuit against both Fox and a man who is now Tucker Carlson’s producer.

According to the complaint, Justin Wells, then a mid-level Fox staffer working on Greta’s show, became friendly with plaintiff Andrew Delancey online. He then not only helped Delancey get a job at Fox News, but continued to pay substantive attention to him, even, according to the suit, “showering Mr. Delancey with gifts.”

After work one day, the men planned to meet other Fox News employees at a local gay bar in New York City. Delancey says Wells convinced him to stop at Wells’ apartment first, where Wells then groped and forcibly kissed him. He says he was in “complete shock” over what he described as an assault.

Delancey claims he told several colleagues and his (also gay) supervisor about the incident in his 20-page complaint, but all was for naught. He never reported it to police or Human Resources, and “mostly suffered in silence for many years.” He never alleged that Wells, who worked in a different division, in any way harmed Delancey at work. Yet now he’s seeking money from both Wells and Fox News.

This occurred during Barack Obama’s first term as president, so why is Delancey suing now?

Meet the “New York Adult Survivors Act.” As stories of abuse from years ago surfaced, New York state politicians created a window where, for one year, the statute of limitations for sexual assault claims is lifted. That window closes next week.

It’s a trend we’ve seen nationwide. Yet, while it’s smart politics to help assault victims, statute of limitations laws exist for good reason. How do you defend yourself from allegations that happened so long ago? This prosecutor argues you can’t, and says decades-old cases like those brought against Russell Brand, Eric Adams, and Steven Tyler could never get a fair trial.

Allegations from the past are hard to prove as well, one reason why Kevin Spacey had many accusers but no convictions in court, which I explain in detail in this video.

Yet these allegations can still destroy careers. And, as often as not, can still be profitable.

The “new” Fox News is a great example of a company that settles lawsuits routinely. Mostly, it’s not because they fear losing. It’s because they fear the public relations blowback from having their anchors or executives not only testify in open court but also see their private emails being sifted through for embarrassing snippets and released to the world.

In reading this lawsuit, there were elements that rang untrue. The trickier question, though, is whether justice is served by these new legal changes. It’s tricky to dig up the past in an effort to make things right, without making a whole new mess.

- Ken