 UPDATED with details from news conference, lawsuit document: Fox is coming to the defense of former The Grinder star Fred Savage, who has been sued for alleged harassment by a female crew member of the Fox series. Crew member Youngjoo Hwang, who filed a lawsuit against Savage and Fox on Wednesday, has accused the 41-year-old of creating a hostile work environment, berating her and — on at least one occasion — physically assaulting her, TMZ reported. In the suit, she says he yelled, "Do not touch me with your hands" -- and when she explained what she was doing he "violently struck [her] arm three times with his hand." Fred Savage is getting sued for allegedly assaulting a costumer on his TV show "The Grinder" -- but she also claims he regularly tormented female crew members, demanding they don't make eye contact with him. She specifically notes in the suit that an executive producer told her, “I’m not even sure what Fred did constituted harassment and I don’t think you should report it to HR,” per TMZ. She also said she and her client were seeking unspecified damages for emotional distress. Fred Savage Accused of Harassment and Intimidation on Set of 'The Grinder' 
 
 EXCLUSIVE 
 
 11:00 AM PT -- Savage says Hwang's accusations are without merit and absolutely untrue, and claims they were investigated, but ... "None of her claims could be substantiated because they did not happen." I have been working in the entertainment industry my whole life and have always endeavored to treat everyone on any set I work on respectfully and professionally. While none of the accusations being leveled at me are true, I wholeheartedly support all people who feel they are being mistreated come forward and speak to human resources and those in charge. “Fox takes all allegations of improper conduct very seriously. We conducted a thorough investigation into these allegations and found no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Savage, ” a rep for the network told Page Six on Wednesday. “We will vigorously defend against these unfounded claims.” 
 
 However, Hwang’s attorney, Anahita Sedaghatfar, alleges that Fox did not conduct an independent investigation into the claims, and says that Savage’s attorneys have refused to speak with her or Hwang. Fox canceled The Grinder in 2016 after one season.
– A female costumer on The Grinder—a Fox sitcom canceled in 2016 after just one season—is suing Fred Savage, who starred in the show alongside Rob Lowe, alleging harassment and even violence. But both Savage and Fox are hitting back strongly against the claims. Youngjoo Hwang says Savage treated her poorly, giving her mean looks and cursing at her, and once told her he hated her and was annoyed that he had to be nice to her. She says she once brushed dandruff off his tuxedo jacket, which was part of her job—and he hit her three times in the arm while telling her not to touch him. She says he was also verbally abusive to other female crew members on the show, yelling at them not to follow him around or look at him, TMZ reports. Hwang says Fox protected Savage, and that when she reported the alleged violence to an executive producer he said, "I'm not even sure what Fred did constituted harassment and I don't think you should report it to HR." But Fox says it looked into Hwang's claims: "We conducted a thorough investigation into these allegations and found no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Savage. We will vigorously defend against these unfounded claims," the company said in a statement obtained by Deadline. Page Six has a lengthy statement from Savage in which he says, among other things, "These accusations are completely without merit and absolutely untrue. Fox conducted an extensive internal investigation into her claims, a process in which I fully participated. ... None of her claims could be substantiated because they did not happen."