Ex-Fox News host Ed Henry is called Weinstein-esque, but worse by his accuser's ...

An attorney for the woman who accused former Fox News host Ed Henry of sexual assault has called his alleged conduct 'Weinstein-esque, but worse' in a court hearing.

Lawyers for Jennifer Eckhart, a former associate producer for Fox Business Network, made the claims at a hearing on Wednesday in US District Court in Manhattan, where they battled to keep her suit against Fox News alive in the face of motions to dismiss.

The suit filed last year, several weeks after Henry was fired from the network, alleges that Fox News violated federal sex-trafficking laws, requiring Eckhart to show Fox knew or should have known that Henry coerced her into a commercial sex act. 

Henry has always denied her claims, insisting they had a consensual relationship, and Fox News has said that Henry was 'promptly terminated' as soon as the network became aware of any sexual misconduct allegations against him.

At Wednesday's hearing, Eckhart's lawyer Michael John Willemin made the comparison to rapist Harvey Weinstein during oral arguments, claiming that Henry forced Eckhart to have oral sex, handcuffed her to a hotel bed, beat her and left her bloodied, according to Law & Crime.

'He hit her,' Willemin said, repeating the allegation in the complaint. 'He handcuffed her. He bruised her up. He called her a 'wh**e.' He told her she doesn't have a choice.' 

Eckhart's suit cited her claim that Fox Business Network anchor Liz Claman told her at the time: 'Everyone at Fox News knows that Henry is a sex addict. That's no secret.'

U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams probed Eckart's allegation that her fear of losing her job or promotions made the alleged sexual assault commercial in nature.

'Why should Fox not have known that Mr. Henry was essentially exchanging empty promises for sex?' the judge asked an attorney for Fox News. 

'Why is promising someone to get into a place with very important people who can benefit their career not a thing of value?' Abrams later asked.

Fox News, in their motion to dismiss, called Eckhart's claim against the network 'meritless.'

'Eckhart does not allege any facts showing that Fox News knew about Henry's alleged abuse beforehand, or even that the company could have known,' the motion argues.

Fox's lawyer Kathleen M. McKenna argued that allegations in 2016 that Henry had an extramarital affair with a Las Vegas stripper were not sufficient to put the network on notice for potential workplace misconduct.

'That was non-work behavior, whatever one thinks of it,' McKenna argued. Fox acknowledges suspending Henry for four months after his alleged affair became public.

Judge Abrams grilled Eckhart's attorney about the significance of the stripper incident, asking whether Henry having an affair or allegedly being put into treatment for a sex addiction should have put Fox on notice that he would harass employees.

'They should have had a heightened awareness to pay attention,' Willemin replied, insisting that the stripper incident was 'just the beginning.'

Judge Henry has not yet ruled on the motions to dismiss filed by Fox News, Henry, and other parties to the case.