The New York Times reported over the weekend that former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly paid $32 million in January to settle a sexual harassment case — a sum legal experts say is “unprecedented” and “highly unusual.”

O’Reilly was ousted from the network in April after it was revealed he had settled several other harassment cases. But as the Times reports, 21st Century Fox renewed his contract even though executives were aware of the large settlement paid out following complaints by former Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl.

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The severity of the allegations likely contributed to the high cost of the payout, said Deborah L. Rhode, a Stanford Law School professor who specializes in gender discrimination. But she added that Wiehl’s legal background, as well as the timing of the settlement, may have also played a part.

“Lis is a very good lawyer, and I’m sure she kept very good hard copies and documentation of a lot of inappropriate conduct,” Rhode said. “She probably had a pretty good evidentiary record.”

Rhode also pointed out that the settlement came while O’Reilly was negotiating his contract and going through a custody battle with his ex-wife, which would have given him further incentive to keep the allegations out of the public eye.

“To have the details of this conduct come out could have had extremely adverse consequences for him both in his personal and his professional life,” Rhode said. “He probably just made the judgement that it was worth it, and she bargained hard.”

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“It’s a mixed bag for plaintiffs because, of course, it makes the case much less likely to settle and it exposes them to concerns about privacy,” Rhode said of such efforts. “But on the other hand it just hugely increases the deterrent potential, and puts the fear of god into individuals who I think up to this point have felt pretty entitled to disregard the consequences.”