This one accuses Fox of reckless and negligent conduct that resulted in the death of two crew members and the serious injury of another in Ukraine.

This lawsuit will likely be another big payout for Fox. Perhaps another cause of action in the shareholders’ lawsuit alleging that Fox neglected its duty to them, too.

But fend off the schadenfreude for a few moments, if you will, to consider the alleged facts. If true, Fox News was as reckless with the lives of its combat journalists as it has been with our democracy and possibly just as deceitful, too.

You may recall that in March, 2022, a Fox News cameraman and a journalist/consultant for the network were killed in Ukraine in an incident that also seriously wounded correspondent Benjamin Hall. The network announced that Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra "Sasha" Kuvshynova, who served as a consultant for Fox, was killed alongside Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski “when their vehicle was struck by incoming fire.”

Now, after a private investigation, Kuvshinova’s family and a security contractor for Fox, Shane Thomson, have sued Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, Fox News Chief Executive Suzanne Scott and Hall.

CNN’s Oliver Darcy has the details. He reported that according to the lawsuit, Fox disregarded warnings to avoid an area near Kyiv where journalists had been barred. The area was considered so dangerous Fox’s Ukrainian driver had refused to take them. So, despite Thomson’s advice not to go, the crew hired another driver and left Thomson behind. The suit claims Thomson’s absence led to “fatal mistakes” by the crew.

More from Darcy:

The Fox News crew ultimately stopped at an abandoned checkpoint where they were attacked. According to the lawsuit, the “car caught fire and Sasha was burned to ashes inside it, causing her death.” Zakrzewski, the lawsuit said, “managed to escape the car but bled to death at the side of the road from a small puncture wound in his leg.” The lawsuit alleged that “the bleeding could easily have been stemmed to save his life if the security contractor trained in battlefield first aid had been present.” Hall survived the attack and was “later found grievously injured” before being taken for emergency medical care.

According to the suit, via Darcy, Fox has suggested Thomson is to blame for the tragedy by spreading false claims he had a drinking problem. Fox commandeered all the electronic gear that survived the attack, is withholding information and has “attempted to impose non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements on all the surviving family members.” It also accuses Hall of providing a “misleading” account of the attack in his book, published by HarperCollins, another Murdoch business.

Then there are these horrific details:

The lawsuit also alleged that after the fatal incident, Fox News tasked Thomson with transporting Zakrzewski’s body across the Polish border to his widow. The lawsuit said that Thomson objected to the assignment, but was told he had to complete it, and was later “let go from his employment without explanation.”

“He was severely traumatized by the combined experience of his colleagues being killed, transporting the dead body of his friend, and then being dismissed,” the lawsuit said. “Shane reached out to Fox repeatedly for assistance with the trauma. Fox never responded, even after Shane attempted suicide by hanging.”

I’m sure this case will be settled, probably in the not-too-distant future. And since I’m no expert in combat or reporting from a war zone, I’ll leave it to the experts to determine just how egregious Fox's behavior was and how much of a damage award may be appropriate (the complaint did not seek a specific amount). But given Fox’s shoddy "journalism" and its animosity toward inconvenient truth, none of the lawsuit’s allegations are terribly surprising.

You can watch Fox News’ Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum announce the deaths of Zakrzewski and Kuvshynova below, from reports on March 15, 2022.