Source: Crazy Days and Nights

The EEOC is set to file a lawsuit against this online tabloid company on behalf of multiple plaintiffs after they were unable to resolve the racial discrimination complaints.

TMZ

A Former TMZ Employee Said She Was Fired After Complaining About A Sexist, Toxic Work Environment

A former TMZ employee filed a lawsuit against the celebrity gossip show’s parent companies Warner Bros. Entertainment and EHM Productions on Tuesday alleging gender discrimination and retaliation.

Bernadette Zilio, 27, worked at TMZ and TooFab, another entertainment site owned by Warner Bros. and EHM Productions, from 2015 to 2020 and said she was fired after she complained to HR about a culture of toxicity and sexism. TMZ founder Harvey Levin, TooFab Managing Editor Shyam Dodge, and TooFab Senior Producer Ross McDonagh are also named in the lawsuit.

In the complaint, which was filed Tuesday with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Zilio said she went to Warner Bros. HR representatives in April 2019 about issues of “sexism, belittlement, preferential treatment and lies running rampant on [her] team.” She told HR that she felt there was a division of how men and women were treated on her team, and that when she spoke up about McDonagh writing articles she considered sexist and offensive, such as one that compared Rihanna getting sick with bronchitis and the “attack on her lungs” to her being attacked by Chris Brown, her concerns about making light of domestic violence were dismissed.

The complaint also says that Zilio and her female colleagues described the work environment as “a boys’ club,” “100% a bro fest,” and a “freaking frat house.” – Source

WIGDOR LLP REPRESENTS FORMER PRODUCER IN EEOC CHARGE OF DISCRIMINATION ALLEGING RAMPANT SEXISM AT TMZ AND TOOFAB

On August 25, 2020, Wigdor LLP filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that celebrity gossip website TMZ and its related pop culture site TooFab have fostered a toxic and misogynistic culture under the leadership of TMZ’s founder Harvey Levin. The Charge was filed on behalf of Bernadette Zilio, former on-camera talent at TMZ on TV and former Associate Producer at TooFab.

TMZ and TooFab, which are both owned and operated by EHM Productions Inc. (“EHM”) and Warner Bros. are among several television and online media programs operated under the Warner Bros.’ subsidiary Telepictures — including The Ellen DeGeneres Show. EHM and Warner Bros. are both named as Respondents in the EEOC Charge, along with Mr. Levin, TooFab Managing Editor Shyam Dodge, and TooFab Senior Producer Ross McDonagh.

As set forth in the attached EEOC Charge, Ms. Zilio held various roles at TMZ and TooFab from 2015 to 2020. As alleged, Ms. Zilio and her female colleagues were routinely subjected to rampant misogynistic treatment at EHM, which they described as a “boys’ club,” “100% a bro fest” and a “[f]reaking frat house.” Ms. Zilio alleges that female employees at TMZ and TooFab were often belittled and abused, held to more stringent standards than their male colleagues, excluded from business and social interactions in which only men participated, denied advancement opportunities and retaliated against for complaining about gender discrimination.

Ms. Zilio alleges that she filed multiple complaints of discrimination on behalf of herself and her female colleagues (which included complaints about Mr. McDonagh’s sexist and offensive articles being published on the TooFab website) that not only fell on deaf ears but were also met with retaliatory discipline and abuse. Incredibly, as alleged, Ms. Zilio was terminated within a few days of Warner Bros. and EHM’s Human Resources telling her that it rejected her complaints of gender discrimination and instead accepted the excuses that her male supervisors gave for this differential treatment. Though Ms. Zilio had just been given a significant merit-based raise for her work a few months earlier, as alleged, she was fired directly after she complained about discrimination.

The EEOC Charge further alleges that Warner Bros. and EHM continued to retaliate against Ms. Zilio even after she was terminated. When Ms. Zilio raised complaints that her termination was retaliatory, Warner Bros. and EHM threatened to sue her if she went public with her allegations — a clear attempt to intimidate her into silence. – Source

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