Fox News Channel has fired back against a lawsuit by former employee Andrea Tantaros against the network and several of its employees, asking a U.S. District Court in New York to dismiss the complaint and sanction Tantaros's lawyer.

That came in a memorandum of law filed in support of FNC's motion for sanctions against attorney Judd Burstein, who is representing Tantaros, who claimed sexual harassment by late Fox News chief Roger Ailes and a campaign of digital harassment and surveillance.

Related: Tantaros Says Fox News Execs Approved Digital Harassment

In the memo, Fox News said the complaint read like a the plot of a TV drama, with claims of hacking, phone tapping andcoded messages via a "sock puppet" social media account.

It called the complaint a work of fiction and the allegations of systematic harassment, surveillance and criminal conduct "outrageously and flagrantly false."

Related: Fox News Channel Being Investigated for Settlement Payments

Fox says the allegation of criminal conduct was simply a ploy to grab headlines and inflict "maximum damage" on the company.

He said Tantaros's lawyer either did not sufficiently vet his client's claims or knew they were a hoax.

The motion was filed on behalf of Fox News Channel, William Shine (who has left the company) and executive Irena Briganti, and it seeks sanctions on both Burstein and Tantaros.

FNC also said Tantaros' original complaint was improperly filed with the court, rather than the arbitration forum required by Tantaros's contract.

Specifically, Fox wants the court to (1) make Burstein and Tantaros pay the court costs of litigation fees and expenses; (2) dismiss the complaint with prejudice (meaning it can't be repaired and refiled); (3) require Tantaros to bring any future claims related to her employment to arbitration; and (4) refer the attorney's conduct to "disciplinary authorities."

Fox News Channel is reportedly under investigation for the way it handled payments to women who accused the network of sexual harassment.

During a hearing on Wednesday, the lawyer for former Fox News anchor Andrea Tantaros, who has sued the network, said another one of his clients had received a grand jury subpoena in a matter related to Fox News, according to The New York Times.

The lawyer, Judd Burstein, told the Times he believed federal investigators were looking at whether Fox News structured sexual harassment settlement claims by paying them as salaries, so they wouldn’t have to be reported.

The investigators were from the securities fraud division of the U.S. Attorney’s office, according to Burstein.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Fox News Channel responded to former anchor Andrea Tantaros’s sexual harassment lawsuit by saying her complaint is filled with falsehoods and should be resolved in arbitration.

In a filing with New York State Supreme Court, Fox News said “Tarantos is not a victim; she is an opportunist.”

Related:Ailes, Fox News Channel Hit With Another Sexual Harassment Suit

Former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes was forced out of his post after former anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit. Parent company 21st Century Fox launched an investigation that turned up other women with similar complaints.

Tarantos’ lawsuit named Fox News and several other senior executives at the network.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.