A former employee of a Fox affiliate committed suicide outside the News Corp headquarters in New York City on Monday.
Phillip Perea berated the network on Twitter, linked to a series of critical YouTube videos, and handed out fliers saying the network ruined his life before shooting himself around 9am.
Perea was a promotions producer at Austin, Texas station KTBC for 10 months before being fired in June 2014.
The 41-year-old believed he was terminated over a promotional Facebook post he created for a story on a jogger arrested for jaywalking last February. Perea created a split-screen photo of the jogger crying with Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo appearing to mock her.
Acevedo's photo was actually taken from a press conference in which he was asked about the viral jogger arrest video and responded: "In other cities there's cops who are actually committing sexual assaults on duty, so I thank God that this is what passes for controversy in Austin, Texas."
The chief later apologised for his remark.
Perea's bosses allegedly thought the photo was too sensational, and also claimed to face backlash from Acevedo over the post.
"He was so offended by that, that we're on the outs," KTBC Vice President and General Manager Michael Lewis reportedly told Perea in a recorded conversation in May, RT reports. "He won't come on our station anymore."
Lewis was reported as saying that Acevedo would no longer have one-on-one interviews with the network as a result of the incident, and that the chief had been deeply unhappy about how the photo made him look.
The recorded conversation also accused Perea of inappropriate behaviour and an inability to follow directions, according to the Austin Chronicle.
After his termination, Perea created 35 YouTube videos under the playlist "The American Workplace Bully: How FOX News Ended My Career." An hour before his suicide, he tweeted more criticisms of the network, and shared the playlist on social media.
FOX Television CEO said the company is "deeply saddened by this tragedy."
