Preview
21BBCV00555
Assigned for allCounty
Electronically FILED by Superior Court purposes
of California, to:Angeles
of LosBurbank
on Courthouse,
Judicial
06/16/2021 01:01 Officer:
PM Sherri William
R. Carter,StewartOfficer/Clerk of Court, by J. Almanza,Deputy Clerk
Executive
1 DIANE O. PALUMBO, Esq. (State Bar No. 029182)
CHARLES D. LAWRENCE, Esq. (State Bar No. 185278)
2 PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
3
Laguna Hills, California 92653
4 Telephone: (949) 442-0300
Facsimile: (949) 251-1331
5 Email: dpalumbo@palumbolawyers.com;
clawrence@palumbolawyers.com
6
Attorneys for Plaintiff, OLIVIA CAMPOS-BERGERON
7
8 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
9 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
10
11 OLIVIA CAMPOS-BERGERON, an Case No.
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
individual,
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
13 Plaintiff,
(949) 442-0300
COMPLAINT FOR HARASSMENT,
14 v. DISCRIMINATION, AND RETALIATION
IN VIOLATION OF CALIFORNIA FAIR
15
CBS BROADCASTING, INC., a New York EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING ACT;
16 corporation; CBS/CTS, INC., a Delaware INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF
corporation; CBS ENTERTAINMENT EMOTIONAL DISTRESS; WRONGFUL
17 TERMINATION; FAILURE TO PREVENT
GROUP, a Delaware corporation; CBS
HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION, AND
18 TELEVISION STATIONS GROUP, a New RETALIATION
York corporation; STEVE MAULDIN, an
19 individual; JUSTIN DRAPER, an individual;
JIM HILL, an individual; PETER DUNN, an Date Filed:
20 individual; DAVID FRIEND, an individual; Trial Date:
21 and DOES 1 through 100,
22 Defendants.
23
24
25 Plaintiff OLIVIA CAMPOS-BERGERON alleges as follows:
26 INTRODUCTION
27 1. Plaintiff OLIVIA CAMPOS-BERGERON (“Plaintiff” or “CAMPOS-BERGERON”)
28 is and at all times material hereto, an individual residing in the County of Orange.
1.
COMPLAINT
1 2. Plaintiff is informed and believes and herein alleges that defendant CBS
2 BROADCASTING, INC. (“CBS Broadcasting”) was and is currently a New York corporation
3 qualified to do business in the County of Los Angeles, State of California.
4 3. Plaintiff is informed and believes and herein alleges that defendant CBS/CTS, INC.
5 (“CBS/CTS”) was and is currently a Delaware corporation qualified to do business in the County of
6 Los Angeles, State of California.
7 4. Plaintiff is informed and believes and herein alleges that defendant CBS
8 ENTERTAINMENT GROUP (“CBS Entertainment”) was and is currently a Delaware corporation
9 qualified to do business in the County of Los Angeles, State of California.
10 5. Plaintiff is informed and believes and herein alleges that defendant CBS
11 TELEVISION STATIONS (“CBS Television Stations”) was and is currently a New York
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12 corporation qualified to do business in the County of Los Angeles, State of California.
PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
13 6. Defendants CBS Broadcasting, CBS/CTS, CBS Entertainment, and CBS Television
(949) 442-0300
14 Stations are herein collectively referred to as “Entity Defendants”.
15 7. Upon information and belief, Plaintiff alleges that CBS owns, operates, and manages a
16 local Los Angeles television station duopoly known as KCBS-TV (“KCBS”) / KCAL-TV (“KCAL”)
17 (collectively, the “Station”).
18 8. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant STEVE
19 MAULDIN (“Mr. Mauldin”) is an individual residing in Los Angeles, California. At all times
20 materially relevant hereto, Mr. Mauldin was the President and General Manager of the Station.
21 9. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant JUSTIN
22 DRAPER (“Mr. Draper”) is an individual residing in Sacramento, California. At all times materially
23 relevant hereto, Mr. Draper was the Controller of the Station.
24 10. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant JIM HILL (“Mr.
25 Hill”) is an individual residing in Los Angeles, California. At all times materially relevant hereto, Mr.
26 Hill was an on-air sportscaster for the Station and former National Football League player.
27 ///
28 ///
2.
COMPLAINT
1 11. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant PETER DUNN
2 (“Mr. Dunn”) is an individual residing in New York, New York. At all times materially relevant
3 hereto, Mr. Dunn was the President of defendant CBS Television Stations.
4 12. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant DAVID
5 FRIEND (“Mr. Friend”) is an individual residing in New York, New York. At all times materially
6 relevant hereto, Mr. Friend was the Senior Vice President of News of defendant CBS Television
7 Stations.
8 13. Defendants Mr. Mauldin, Mr. Draper, Mr. Hill, Mr. Dunn, and Mr. Friend are herein
9 collectively referred to as “Individual Defendants”.
10 14. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that Entity Defendants,
11 Individual Defendants, and DOE Defendants (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Defendants”),
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12 and each of them, are and at all material times have been, the agents, representatives, servants,
PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
13 employees, assigns, parents, subsidiaries and/or affiliates of one another, acting within the scope of
(949) 442-0300
14 such authority arising therefrom in performing the acts and omitting to act alleged herein.
15 15. Venue is proper in this district because Defendants either reside within this district,
16 engaged in acts which had effect within this district for which this Complaint is based, and/or have
17 such significant contacts with this district and forum state as to have purposefully availed themselves
18 of the jurisdiction of this Court.
19 16. Plaintiff has established a gratifying, lengthy career in community-public affairs and
20 human resources, including as the following:
21 (a) Vice-President of Employee & Community Relations for The East Los
Angeles Community Union (TELACU) from 1985-1993;
22 (b) Community/Public Affairs Consultant from 1993-1995 and again from 2000-
23 2010;
(c) Director of Workforce Diversity for NBC4 in Burbank from 1995-2000; and
24 (d) Director of Community Relations for the Station from 2010 to 2021.
25 17. Plaintiff also established her own business in community/public affairs and human
26 resource management with an eye toward inclusion and diversity, as she herself is a proud Latina
27 actively involved in various community and business organizations.
28 ///
3.
COMPLAINT
1 18. Plaintiff is also the recipient of numerous awards and honors, which included:
2 (a) Mayor’s Apple Award, City of Los Angeles (1992);
(b) LA County Commission on Women (1991);
3 (c) Americas Theatre Arts Foundation (2007);
4 (d) Imagen Foundation (2002);
(e) Safe Passage (2016);
5 (f) Susan G. Komen Race for The Cure, Angel Award (2014);
(g) Award from CHP for her work in the CHiPs 4 Kids program (2011 & 2012);
6 (h) Latina of Influence, Hispanic Lifestyle (2014);
7 (i) American Cancer Society (2016); and
(j) Cal State Dominguez Hills (2013).
8
9 19. Most recently in 2013, Plaintiff was a recipient of President Obama’s Call to Service
10 Award and the Merit of Compassionate Award in 2013 by U.S. Grand Priories of St. Lazarus of
11 Jerusalem for her work with charities and a memorial youth scholarship established with her husband.
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12
PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
13 20. On or about September 20, 2010, Plaintiff was hired as the Director of Community
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14 Relations for the Station by Mr. Mauldin.
15 21. In this executive capacity, Plaintiff reported directly to Mr. Mauldin.
16 22. Plaintiff was responsible for the development and management of the Station’s
17 community/public affairs initiatives and community partnerships.
18 23. Working closely with the Station’s news team, Plaintiff’s role included talent relations
19 and community engagements, which earned her the honor of serving on the CBS Corporation
20 Diversity Council during her employment.
21 24. Only a few short weeks after she was hired, Plaintiff was unexpectedly invited by her
22 direct supervisor, Mr. Mauldin—via his assistant Toni Gile (“Ms. Gile”)—to get drinks after work
23 with just himself and Mr. Hill at Camacho’s Cantina.
24 25. Despite repeatedly requesting how the meeting was work related, Plaintiff was never
25 provided any explanation.
26 ///
27 ///
28 ///
4.
COMPLAINT
1 26. Believing that such a meeting was inappropriate, Plaintiff cancelled it on the day it
2 was scheduled; however, when she apologized for the cancellation to Mr. Mauldin during their next
3 weekly meeting, he feigned ever knowing about the meeting, despite the clear fact he directed Ms.
4 Gile to schedule same.
5 27. As set forth herein, ever since this firstincident, Mr. Mauldin and others engaged in
6 and/or permitted the continuation of pervasive and unlawful sexual harassment, discrimination,
7 hostile work environment, and retaliation (“Unlawful Acts”) through the date of her untimely
8 termination on February 8, 2021.
9 28. As demonstrated herein, the Unlawful Acts directed toward Plaintiff were sufficiently
10 similar in kind, occurred with reasonable frequency, and did not acquire a degree of permanence.
11 29. These Unlawful Acts amounted to continuing violations of Entity Defendants’ own
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12 corporate policies, and law, up through and including the date of her wrongful termination.
PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
13 30. On June 28, 2011, Plaintiff and Mr. Mauldin attended a lunch meeting with the then-
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14 Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”), John Deasy, and
15 Superintendent Deasy’s Communications Director, Tom Waldman.
16 31. This luncheon took place at The Border Grill on Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles
17 and was scheduled to discuss a potential partnership between the Station and the LAUSD to promote
18 education, teachers, and students in the community.
19 32. However, during the luncheon, Superintendent Deasy was not receptive to Mr.
20 Mauldin’s approach, but instead became quite captivated with Plaintiff, as evidenced by
21 Superintendent Deasy’s offer to share his beverage with her.
22 33. Mr. Mauldin did nothing to curtail this behavior and, despite this already
23 uncomfortable situation for Plaintiff, when the luncheon concluded, Mr. Mauldin compounded the
24 harassment during his and Plaintiff’s debriefing.
25 34. Mr. Mauldin—apparently jealous of the attention Plaintiff received during the
26 luncheon—stood up from the table to leave and resentfully noted that she “must be the hot
27 community relations director.”
28 ///
5.
COMPLAINT
1 35. Plaintiff, aghast at this behavior, did not respond or make eye contact with Mr.
2 Mauldin during this encounter. Mr. Mauldin then added, “You’re hot.”
3 36. After an awkward silence, Plaintiff simply replied that she would finish her espresso
4 and meet Mr. Mauldin back at the Station.
5 37. Thereafter, Plaintiff repeatedly spurned Mr. Mauldin’s unwanted sexual advances and
6 comments, which eventually became his animus for berating and belittling Plaintiff over the
7 remaining course of her employment.
8 38. Despite Mr. Mauldin’s prior treatment of women while managing other CBS
9 television markets, Entity Defendants, Mr. Draper, Mr. Friend, and/or Mr. Dunn directed—or were
10 complicit in—Mr. Mauldin’s promotion to the position of President and General Manager of the
11 Station, fully aware of his propensity to engage in similar harassing and toxic behavior toward
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12 women.
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13 39. None of Plaintiff’s complaints directed to Defendants and/or officers affiliated with
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14 Defendants regarding Mr. Mauldin were meaningfully acted upon.
15 40. On or about July 30, 2013, Plaintiff also reported Chris Koors (“Mr. Koors”) (then-
16 sales manager at the Station) to Human Resources representative, Maggie Serrano, for making
17 harassing, sexist remarks that disparaged the community partner and Station host of “Hola LA”, Bel
18 Hernandez. Plaintiff witnessed firsthand Mr. Koors’ disparagement, wherein Mr. Koors called Ms.
19 Hernandez “a bitch”, adding, “I’m sick and tired of her.”
20 41. After Human Resources deflected the July 30, 2013 complaint to Mr. Draper, he
21 loudly dismissed Plaintiff’s complaint about Mr. Koors under the guise that men using profanity was
22 not harassment.
23 42. Two to three days after the July 30, 2013 complaint, multiple male employees in the
24 sales office and creative services—located on the same floor as Plaintiff’s office—retaliated against
25 Plaintiff by no longer speaking with her.
26 43. The above treatment of Plaintiff continued throughout 2013.
27 ///
28 ///
6.
COMPLAINT
1 44. Even in 2013, in the spirit of reconciliation, Plaintiff believed that relations with her
2 superiors and co-workers could be mended, and she attempted to vindicate herself through her
3 diligent work.
4 45. Thereafter, during several months in 2014, due to a workplace injury (as detailed
5 below), Plaintiff required crutches to walk, was in severe pain, and was therefore unable to give an
6 in-person studio tour to California Highway Patrol (“CHP”) representatives in July of 2014.
7 46. Plaintiff communicated with outgoing CHP representatives, Officer Vince Ramirez
8 and Lt. Denise Joslin, regarding Plaintiff’s medical condition and resulting inability to accommodate
9 a studio tour of the Station.
10 47. Despite attempting to still coordinate the studio tour with the outgoing CHP
11 representatives, the all-new incoming CHP representatives—led by Sgt. Jose Nuñez—apparently
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12 complained to CHP Chief Dan Bower about Plaintiff’s unavailability to provide a studio tour.
PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
13 48. During a meeting on Monday, February 23, 2015, Chief Bower apparently complained
(949) 442-0300
14 about Plaintiff to Mr. Mauldin. No copy of this complaint is included in Plaintiff’s personnel file.
15 49. Upon being summoned into a meeting later that morning, Plaintiff was verbally
16 assaulted by Mr. Mauldin for allegedly “causing the CHP to pay thousands of dollars for overtime.”
17 50. Mr. Mauldin accused Plaintiff of: (1) not communicating with CHP; (2) failing to
18 report the number of Walgreens stores the CHiPs 4 Kids toy-drive program was partnered with; and
19 (3) refusing to meet with CHP when requested (“CHP Complaint”).
20 51. Plaintiff denied the validity of these complaints because she kept CHP abreast of all
21 information as requested, despite her inability to provide a studio tour of the Station.
22 52. Nonetheless, Mr. Mauldin—at about six feet, three inches tall and therefore nearly one
23 foot taller than Plaintiff—demanded proof that she communicated with CHP in a loud, hostile, and
24 threatening voice while aggressively pounding his fingers on his desk directly in front of Plaintiff and
25 leaning in less than a foot away from Plaintiff.
26 53. After composing herself from this frightening encounter, Plaintiff submitted a written
27 report to Mr. Mauldin with supporting documents (attached hereto as Exhibit “A”) on Wednesday,
28 February 25, 2015 (“CHP Report”).
7.
COMPLAINT
1 54. Regardless of Mr. Mauldin’s appalling behavior, Plaintiff’s CHP Report evidenced
2 each communication with the above-named CHP representatives regarding the status of the CHiPs 4
3 Kids program and, further, of her medical condition that prevented her from conducting a studio tour
4 in person, completely invalidating any basis of the CHP Complaint against her.
5 55. Rather than putting a stop to this type of harassment, however, Mr. Mauldin
6 perpetuated it as set forth herein.
7 56. Even in 2015, in the spirit of reconciliation, Plaintiff believed that relations with her
8 superiors and co-workers could be mended, and she attempted to vindicate herself through her
9 diligent work.
10 57. However, while debriefing Mr. Mauldin on the CHP Report, Plaintiff asked him why
11 he verbally assaulted and physically threatened her as described above, two days prior, at which point
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12 he became enraged, shouted while pounding his fist on his desk, and leaning in toward Plaintiff as he
PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
13 did two days prior, “This is my world, this is the way it is, and you better get used to it!”
(949) 442-0300
14 58. Fearing for her own safety, Plaintiff asked, “Am I free to leave?” but Mr. Mauldin did
15 not answer, and further continued his menacing behavior against Plaintiff.
16 59. Finally, Plaintiff again asked her direct supervisor Mr. Mauldin, “Am I free to leave?”
17 60. In further menacing behavior, Mr. Mauldin did not answer or otherwise verbally
18 acquiesce to Plaintiff leaving his office, but instead nodded his head and finally allowed Plaintiff to
19 leave his office.
20 61. As set forth in her supporting documents, which will be proven at trial, when Plaintiff
21 was hired in September 2010, the CHiPs 4 Kids program brought in approximately 45,000 donated
22 toys each December prior to 2010.
23 62. Under Plaintiff’s leadership, however, the CHiPs 4 Kids program had grown in
24 success and brought in 116,841 toys for December 2014—a figure that has not been achieved since.
25 63. Again, neither the CHP Complaint nor Plaintiff’s CHP Report in response thereto
26 were included in her CBS personnel file.
27 ///
28 ///
8.
COMPLAINT
1 64. Even in 2016, in the spirit of reconciliation, Plaintiff believed that relations with her
2 superiors and co-workers could be mended, and she attempted to vindicate herself through her
3 diligent work.
4 65. Thereafter, on June 27, 2016, Mr. Hill personally called Plaintiff and verbally harassed
5 her in an attempt to bully Plaintiff into withdrawing her denial of Mr. Hill’s personal engagement
6 with a motivational speaking organization, due to the proposed unethical payment fee for same.
7 66. Mr. Hill apparently discovered that, on behalf of the Station, Plaintiff rejected this
8 personal engagement request because the organization was not a “non-profit” and was proposing to
9 compensate Mr. Hill in cash for the scheduled community outreach engagement.
10 67. Plaintiff calmly pointed out to Mr. Hill that this potential conflict of interest was
11 contrary to the Station’s ethics and inappropriate in the realm of community outreach.1
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12 68. Plaintiff knew that Mr. Hill had a close friendship with Mr. Mauldin, and she believed
PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
13 at the time that Mr. Hill’s belligerent and harassing behavior over the phone was an extension of Mr.
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14 Mauldin’s animosity toward her.
15 69. Notwithstanding this known friendship and Mr. Mauldin’s own animosity toward her,
16 Plaintiff reported Mr. Hill’s bullying conduct to Mr. Mauldin shortly after the phone call as was the
17 stated procedure at the Station.
18 70. Only after being reported did Mr. Hill apologize for his behavior—nearly a month
19 later—on July 20, 2016.
20 71. The above instances of Unlawful Acts which Plaintiff endured are only a few of the
21 many instances that went unaddressed and/or were perpetuated by Defendants.
22 72. Subsequent to her return to work on approximately November 9, 2015 following her
23 first worker’s compensation medical leave (see below), Plaintiff was also forced to endure the
24 following:
25 (a) Her office was relocated to the “dead zone” away from colleagues and
production, as part of a continued attempt to keep her maligned and isolated.
26
(b) Her time off requests and her accrual rate had been changed.
27 ///
28
1
See Exhibit “B”, p. 16.
9.
COMPLAINT
1 (c) Her responsibilities were changed to create more work for her, although she
was already working without staff support as the sole employee in her
2 department.
3 (d) On April 21, 2017, Human Resources trumped up an exaggerated complaint
from Art Manager, Maria Shih, claiming that Plaintiff spoke “disrespectfully”
4
during a partnership program deadline with LAUSD and the LA Rams. Due to
5 creative services’ absence in supervising Ms. Shih, Plaintiff was left to
supervise her and had accordingly asked Ms. Shih to simply proofread her
6 work prior to sending. This complaint led to a Human Resources initiated
office-wide investigation.
7
(e) She heard a commotion in the creative services design department, which
8 Plaintiff discovered was an office brawl that took place between Graphic
9 Artist, Jeff Chayette, and Art Director, Su-E Tan. The brawl occurred in or
around May 2017 on the same floor as the sales department and Plaintiff’s
10 office. Although Plaintiff was given a written reprimand in (d) above, neither
of these employees were investigated and both are still employed by the
11 Station. Station leadership was apparently complicit in these acts, despite
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
CBS’s admonition that workplace violence “will lead to disciplinary action up
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12
to and including termination and/or legal action as appropriate”.2
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13
Male (and even some female) co-workers “ghosted” Plaintiff as if she were not
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(f)
14 there (e.g., colleagues stopped talking when Plaintiff entered a room or during
meetings, Plaintiff was excluded from critical meetings that fell under her
15 responsibility and purview, etc.).
16 (g) She was removed as the project lead of the CHiPs 4 Kids planning and
execution in November and December of 2015 and 2016. Plaintiff was given
17 no official explanation for her removal despite the program’s massive strides
18 under her direction and management (see above). Plaintiff ultimately learned
from Assistant News Director, Tara Finestone, that Mr. Mauldin had directed
19 his assistant, Ms. Gile, to keep Plaintiff from being involved in the program
meetings, thus undermining her proven success and, unfortunately, negatively
20 impacting the program.
21 (h) Mr. Draper unilaterally gave an approximate 15% raise to consultant, Mary
Shibani, without conferring with Plaintiff, who was responsible for overseeing
22
Ms. Shibani’s work product.
23 (i) After previous requests to clarify her roles were rejected by Mr. Mauldin,
24 Plaintiff was told by Ms. Gile in June 2017 to no longer carry out her
responsibility as on-stage event producer during the Stephanie’s Day event,
25 despite the fact that Plaintiff had created the model for the event and had been
the event producer for the previous five years. Additionally, although Plaintiff
26 planned and executed the model for the event, Mr. Mauldin only recognized
27 Ms. Gile’s contribution to the event, which undermined and belittled Plaintiff’s
efforts—including the efforts of student interns from surrounding universities.
28
2
See Exhibit “B”, p. 11.
10.
COMPLAINT
1 (j) Plaintiff’s department was purportedly eliminated while she was on worker’s
compensation medical leave, notwithstanding: (1) her attempts to return to
2 work since February 18, 2020 with Maggie Serrano of Human Resources and
3 Safety Director for the Station, Lisa Schwartz; and (2) CBS’s own counsel’s
advice that Plaintiff should not be terminated.
4
(k) Plaintiff was provided no severance package, despite other same-level
5 executives’ receipt of severance packages when their employment concluded.
6 73. On January 20, 2021, Maggie Serrano from Human Resources verbally provided
7 Plaintiff with contradictory information, namely that Plaintiff’s position and department was
8 eliminated in or around November or December 2020, yet Plaintiff was not terminated until February
9 8, 2021.
10 74. Despite Plaintiff’s termination on February 8, 2021 under the pretext of eliminating
11 her department, the Station’s on-air news credits continued to list Plaintiff’s name as Director of
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12 Community Relations as of at least Sunday, February 28, 2021.
PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP
13 75. The following are Plaintiff’s work-related injuries (including mental stress) and
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14 medical leaves of absence during her employment with the Station, which became the basis of some
15 of the unlawful, disparate treatment she received from her superiors and fellow employees, whom
16 were loyal to Mr. Mauldin:
17 Date Injury
October 19, 2013 “Concussion to Right Side Skull”
18
- Plaintiff operated a CBS station booth in South LA during a street fair,
19 where she received a concussion when a large prize wheel was knocked
20 onto her head by a booth patron.
June 25, 2014 “Forward Fall and Full Body Twist; Left Foot Crushed & Right Knee Injury”
21 - Plaintiff’s left foot was crushed, and her right knee was injured during
22 a diversity television prescreening event.
May 30, 2015 “Cumulative Trauma; stress, workplace harassment/retaliation”
23
- Plaintiff’s first medical leave. She returned to work November 9, 2015.
24 Plaintiff was forced to seek services from a professional therapist to
cope and manage the trauma. Plaintiff’s professional therapy sessions
25
began in June 2015 and continue to this day at a frequency of twice per
26 month, the co-pays for which are out-of-pocket.
27
28
11.
COMPLAINT
1 Date Injury
April 20, 2017 “Injury; Right foot Ligaments Severed”
2
- Sustained while setting up retractable stands for the student and teacher
3 of the month program in connection with her responsibilities with the
4 Station.
Sept. 20, 2017 “Cumulative Trauma: Toxic Workplace Harassment/Retaliation; Foot &
5 Concussion Injuries”
6 - Plaintiff’s second medical leave, for which she required professional
psychiatric therapy.
7
8 76. Plaintiff’s injury on October 19, 2013 resulted in immediate dizziness, throbbing pain,
9 and ringing in her ears. Despite obtaining brief medical care, Plaintiff suffered memory lapses,
10 headaches, and ringing in her ears, all of which persist to this day. This injury also caused Plaintiff’s
11 hiatal hernia, which required medical intervention from a gastroenterologist in 2016.
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12 77. In connection with her first cumulative trauma medical leave, on August 14, 2015,
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13 Maggie Serrano from Human Resources verbally instructed Plaintiff to commit insurance fraud and
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14 report to her primary care physician, Dr. Rita Rubinstein, that her injury was not work related,
15 despite occurring in and during the course of Plaintiff’s employment.
16 78. Upon information and belief, Plaintiff alleges that her injuries and/or medical leaves
17 of absence were a substantial motivating factor for Defendants’ participation in, and/or toleration of,
18 Unlawful Acts against her.
19 79. Beginning shortly after the commencement of her employment with the Station on
20 September 20, 2010 through her unwarranted termination on February 8, 2021, Plaintiff was a
21 frequent victim of these Unlawful Acts, of which she lodged internal complaints repeatedly, although
22 no corrective action was ever taken.
23 80. Entity Defendants and its affiliated entities have dealt with a deluge of victims’ claims
24 regarding the appalling and unlawful treatment of women and minorities by the Station’s and Entity
25 Defendants’ management within the past few decades, including a settlement with the Equal
26
27
28
12.
COMPLAINT
1 Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) for $8,000,000.3
2 81. Perhaps even more indicative of this ubiquitous and pernicious behavior is the recent
3 termination of Mr. Dunn and Mr. Friend from their executive positions due to the ongoing
4 investigation into allegations of using racial slurs and engaging in other abuse of women and
5 minorities.4
6 82. According to portions of the CBS Policy Guide that Plaintiff was provided while
7 employed at the Station (“Policy Guide”) (attached hereto as Exhibit “B”):
8 It is the policy of CBS to ensure equal employment opportunity without
discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin,
9 religion, sex, age, disability, alienage or citizenship status, marital
10 status, creed, genetic information, height or weight, sexual orientation,
veteran’s status, gender identity or gender expression or any other
11 characteristic protected by law. CBS prohibits and will not tolerate any
23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600
such discrimination or harassment.
Laguna Hills, California 92653
12
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13 ...
(949) 442-0300
14 Sexual harassment constitutes discrimination and is illegal under
federal, state and local laws. For the purposes of this policy, sexual
15 harassment is defined, as in the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission Guidelines, as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for
16
sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature
17 when, for example: (a) submission to such conduct is made either
explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s
18 employment; (b) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an
individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such
19
individual; or (c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of
20 unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or
creating an
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21BBCV00555 Assigned for allCounty Electronically FILED by Superior Court purposes of California, to:Angeles of LosBurbank on Courthouse, Judicial 06/16/2021 01:01 Officer: PM Sherri William R. Carter,StewartOfficer/Clerk of Court, by J. Almanza,Deputy Clerk Executive 1 DIANE O. PALUMBO, Esq. (State Bar No. 029182) CHARLES D. LAWRENCE, Esq. (State Bar No. 185278) 2 PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 3 Laguna Hills, California 92653 4 Telephone: (949) 442-0300 Facsimile: (949) 251-1331 5 Email: dpalumbo@palumbolawyers.com; clawrence@palumbolawyers.com 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff, OLIVIA CAMPOS-BERGERON 7 8 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 9 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 10 11 OLIVIA CAMPOS-BERGERON, an Case No. 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 individual, Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 Plaintiff, (949) 442-0300 COMPLAINT FOR HARASSMENT, 14 v. DISCRIMINATION, AND RETALIATION IN VIOLATION OF CALIFORNIA FAIR 15 CBS BROADCASTING, INC., a New York EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING ACT; 16 corporation; CBS/CTS, INC., a Delaware INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF corporation; CBS ENTERTAINMENT EMOTIONAL DISTRESS; WRONGFUL 17 TERMINATION; FAILURE TO PREVENT GROUP, a Delaware corporation; CBS HARASSMENT, DISCRIMINATION, AND 18 TELEVISION STATIONS GROUP, a New RETALIATION York corporation; STEVE MAULDIN, an 19 individual; JUSTIN DRAPER, an individual; JIM HILL, an individual; PETER DUNN, an Date Filed: 20 individual; DAVID FRIEND, an individual; Trial Date: 21 and DOES 1 through 100, 22 Defendants. 23 24 25 Plaintiff OLIVIA CAMPOS-BERGERON alleges as follows: 26 INTRODUCTION 27 1. Plaintiff OLIVIA CAMPOS-BERGERON (“Plaintiff” or “CAMPOS-BERGERON”) 28 is and at all times material hereto, an individual residing in the County of Orange. 1. COMPLAINT 1 2. Plaintiff is informed and believes and herein alleges that defendant CBS 2 BROADCASTING, INC. (“CBS Broadcasting”) was and is currently a New York corporation 3 qualified to do business in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. 4 3. Plaintiff is informed and believes and herein alleges that defendant CBS/CTS, INC. 5 (“CBS/CTS”) was and is currently a Delaware corporation qualified to do business in the County of 6 Los Angeles, State of California. 7 4. Plaintiff is informed and believes and herein alleges that defendant CBS 8 ENTERTAINMENT GROUP (“CBS Entertainment”) was and is currently a Delaware corporation 9 qualified to do business in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. 10 5. Plaintiff is informed and believes and herein alleges that defendant CBS 11 TELEVISION STATIONS (“CBS Television Stations”) was and is currently a New York 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 corporation qualified to do business in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 6. Defendants CBS Broadcasting, CBS/CTS, CBS Entertainment, and CBS Television (949) 442-0300 14 Stations are herein collectively referred to as “Entity Defendants”. 15 7. Upon information and belief, Plaintiff alleges that CBS owns, operates, and manages a 16 local Los Angeles television station duopoly known as KCBS-TV (“KCBS”) / KCAL-TV (“KCAL”) 17 (collectively, the “Station”). 18 8. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant STEVE 19 MAULDIN (“Mr. Mauldin”) is an individual residing in Los Angeles, California. At all times 20 materially relevant hereto, Mr. Mauldin was the President and General Manager of the Station. 21 9. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant JUSTIN 22 DRAPER (“Mr. Draper”) is an individual residing in Sacramento, California. At all times materially 23 relevant hereto, Mr. Draper was the Controller of the Station. 24 10. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant JIM HILL (“Mr. 25 Hill”) is an individual residing in Los Angeles, California. At all times materially relevant hereto, Mr. 26 Hill was an on-air sportscaster for the Station and former National Football League player. 27 /// 28 /// 2. COMPLAINT 1 11. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant PETER DUNN 2 (“Mr. Dunn”) is an individual residing in New York, New York. At all times materially relevant 3 hereto, Mr. Dunn was the President of defendant CBS Television Stations. 4 12. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that defendant DAVID 5 FRIEND (“Mr. Friend”) is an individual residing in New York, New York. At all times materially 6 relevant hereto, Mr. Friend was the Senior Vice President of News of defendant CBS Television 7 Stations. 8 13. Defendants Mr. Mauldin, Mr. Draper, Mr. Hill, Mr. Dunn, and Mr. Friend are herein 9 collectively referred to as “Individual Defendants”. 10 14. Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges, that Entity Defendants, 11 Individual Defendants, and DOE Defendants (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Defendants”), 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 and each of them, are and at all material times have been, the agents, representatives, servants, PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 employees, assigns, parents, subsidiaries and/or affiliates of one another, acting within the scope of (949) 442-0300 14 such authority arising therefrom in performing the acts and omitting to act alleged herein. 15 15. Venue is proper in this district because Defendants either reside within this district, 16 engaged in acts which had effect within this district for which this Complaint is based, and/or have 17 such significant contacts with this district and forum state as to have purposefully availed themselves 18 of the jurisdiction of this Court. 19 16. Plaintiff has established a gratifying, lengthy career in community-public affairs and 20 human resources, including as the following: 21 (a) Vice-President of Employee & Community Relations for The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU) from 1985-1993; 22 (b) Community/Public Affairs Consultant from 1993-1995 and again from 2000- 23 2010; (c) Director of Workforce Diversity for NBC4 in Burbank from 1995-2000; and 24 (d) Director of Community Relations for the Station from 2010 to 2021. 25 17. Plaintiff also established her own business in community/public affairs and human 26 resource management with an eye toward inclusion and diversity, as she herself is a proud Latina 27 actively involved in various community and business organizations. 28 /// 3. COMPLAINT 1 18. Plaintiff is also the recipient of numerous awards and honors, which included: 2 (a) Mayor’s Apple Award, City of Los Angeles (1992); (b) LA County Commission on Women (1991); 3 (c) Americas Theatre Arts Foundation (2007); 4 (d) Imagen Foundation (2002); (e) Safe Passage (2016); 5 (f) Susan G. Komen Race for The Cure, Angel Award (2014); (g) Award from CHP for her work in the CHiPs 4 Kids program (2011 & 2012); 6 (h) Latina of Influence, Hispanic Lifestyle (2014); 7 (i) American Cancer Society (2016); and (j) Cal State Dominguez Hills (2013). 8 9 19. Most recently in 2013, Plaintiff was a recipient of President Obama’s Call to Service 10 Award and the Merit of Compassionate Award in 2013 by U.S. Grand Priories of St. Lazarus of 11 Jerusalem for her work with charities and a memorial youth scholarship established with her husband. 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 GENERAL ALLEGATIONS Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 20. On or about September 20, 2010, Plaintiff was hired as the Director of Community (949) 442-0300 14 Relations for the Station by Mr. Mauldin. 15 21. In this executive capacity, Plaintiff reported directly to Mr. Mauldin. 16 22. Plaintiff was responsible for the development and management of the Station’s 17 community/public affairs initiatives and community partnerships. 18 23. Working closely with the Station’s news team, Plaintiff’s role included talent relations 19 and community engagements, which earned her the honor of serving on the CBS Corporation 20 Diversity Council during her employment. 21 24. Only a few short weeks after she was hired, Plaintiff was unexpectedly invited by her 22 direct supervisor, Mr. Mauldin—via his assistant Toni Gile (“Ms. Gile”)—to get drinks after work 23 with just himself and Mr. Hill at Camacho’s Cantina. 24 25. Despite repeatedly requesting how the meeting was work related, Plaintiff was never 25 provided any explanation. 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 4. COMPLAINT 1 26. Believing that such a meeting was inappropriate, Plaintiff cancelled it on the day it 2 was scheduled; however, when she apologized for the cancellation to Mr. Mauldin during their next 3 weekly meeting, he feigned ever knowing about the meeting, despite the clear fact he directed Ms. 4 Gile to schedule same. 5 27. As set forth herein, ever since this firstincident, Mr. Mauldin and others engaged in 6 and/or permitted the continuation of pervasive and unlawful sexual harassment, discrimination, 7 hostile work environment, and retaliation (“Unlawful Acts”) through the date of her untimely 8 termination on February 8, 2021. 9 28. As demonstrated herein, the Unlawful Acts directed toward Plaintiff were sufficiently 10 similar in kind, occurred with reasonable frequency, and did not acquire a degree of permanence. 11 29. These Unlawful Acts amounted to continuing violations of Entity Defendants’ own 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 corporate policies, and law, up through and including the date of her wrongful termination. PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 30. On June 28, 2011, Plaintiff and Mr. Mauldin attended a lunch meeting with the then- (949) 442-0300 14 Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”), John Deasy, and 15 Superintendent Deasy’s Communications Director, Tom Waldman. 16 31. This luncheon took place at The Border Grill on Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles 17 and was scheduled to discuss a potential partnership between the Station and the LAUSD to promote 18 education, teachers, and students in the community. 19 32. However, during the luncheon, Superintendent Deasy was not receptive to Mr. 20 Mauldin’s approach, but instead became quite captivated with Plaintiff, as evidenced by 21 Superintendent Deasy’s offer to share his beverage with her. 22 33. Mr. Mauldin did nothing to curtail this behavior and, despite this already 23 uncomfortable situation for Plaintiff, when the luncheon concluded, Mr. Mauldin compounded the 24 harassment during his and Plaintiff’s debriefing. 25 34. Mr. Mauldin—apparently jealous of the attention Plaintiff received during the 26 luncheon—stood up from the table to leave and resentfully noted that she “must be the hot 27 community relations director.” 28 /// 5. COMPLAINT 1 35. Plaintiff, aghast at this behavior, did not respond or make eye contact with Mr. 2 Mauldin during this encounter. Mr. Mauldin then added, “You’re hot.” 3 36. After an awkward silence, Plaintiff simply replied that she would finish her espresso 4 and meet Mr. Mauldin back at the Station. 5 37. Thereafter, Plaintiff repeatedly spurned Mr. Mauldin’s unwanted sexual advances and 6 comments, which eventually became his animus for berating and belittling Plaintiff over the 7 remaining course of her employment. 8 38. Despite Mr. Mauldin’s prior treatment of women while managing other CBS 9 television markets, Entity Defendants, Mr. Draper, Mr. Friend, and/or Mr. Dunn directed—or were 10 complicit in—Mr. Mauldin’s promotion to the position of President and General Manager of the 11 Station, fully aware of his propensity to engage in similar harassing and toxic behavior toward 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 women. PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 39. None of Plaintiff’s complaints directed to Defendants and/or officers affiliated with (949) 442-0300 14 Defendants regarding Mr. Mauldin were meaningfully acted upon. 15 40. On or about July 30, 2013, Plaintiff also reported Chris Koors (“Mr. Koors”) (then- 16 sales manager at the Station) to Human Resources representative, Maggie Serrano, for making 17 harassing, sexist remarks that disparaged the community partner and Station host of “Hola LA”, Bel 18 Hernandez. Plaintiff witnessed firsthand Mr. Koors’ disparagement, wherein Mr. Koors called Ms. 19 Hernandez “a bitch”, adding, “I’m sick and tired of her.” 20 41. After Human Resources deflected the July 30, 2013 complaint to Mr. Draper, he 21 loudly dismissed Plaintiff’s complaint about Mr. Koors under the guise that men using profanity was 22 not harassment. 23 42. Two to three days after the July 30, 2013 complaint, multiple male employees in the 24 sales office and creative services—located on the same floor as Plaintiff’s office—retaliated against 25 Plaintiff by no longer speaking with her. 26 43. The above treatment of Plaintiff continued throughout 2013. 27 /// 28 /// 6. COMPLAINT 1 44. Even in 2013, in the spirit of reconciliation, Plaintiff believed that relations with her 2 superiors and co-workers could be mended, and she attempted to vindicate herself through her 3 diligent work. 4 45. Thereafter, during several months in 2014, due to a workplace injury (as detailed 5 below), Plaintiff required crutches to walk, was in severe pain, and was therefore unable to give an 6 in-person studio tour to California Highway Patrol (“CHP”) representatives in July of 2014. 7 46. Plaintiff communicated with outgoing CHP representatives, Officer Vince Ramirez 8 and Lt. Denise Joslin, regarding Plaintiff’s medical condition and resulting inability to accommodate 9 a studio tour of the Station. 10 47. Despite attempting to still coordinate the studio tour with the outgoing CHP 11 representatives, the all-new incoming CHP representatives—led by Sgt. Jose Nuñez—apparently 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 complained to CHP Chief Dan Bower about Plaintiff’s unavailability to provide a studio tour. PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 48. During a meeting on Monday, February 23, 2015, Chief Bower apparently complained (949) 442-0300 14 about Plaintiff to Mr. Mauldin. No copy of this complaint is included in Plaintiff’s personnel file. 15 49. Upon being summoned into a meeting later that morning, Plaintiff was verbally 16 assaulted by Mr. Mauldin for allegedly “causing the CHP to pay thousands of dollars for overtime.” 17 50. Mr. Mauldin accused Plaintiff of: (1) not communicating with CHP; (2) failing to 18 report the number of Walgreens stores the CHiPs 4 Kids toy-drive program was partnered with; and 19 (3) refusing to meet with CHP when requested (“CHP Complaint”). 20 51. Plaintiff denied the validity of these complaints because she kept CHP abreast of all 21 information as requested, despite her inability to provide a studio tour of the Station. 22 52. Nonetheless, Mr. Mauldin—at about six feet, three inches tall and therefore nearly one 23 foot taller than Plaintiff—demanded proof that she communicated with CHP in a loud, hostile, and 24 threatening voice while aggressively pounding his fingers on his desk directly in front of Plaintiff and 25 leaning in less than a foot away from Plaintiff. 26 53. After composing herself from this frightening encounter, Plaintiff submitted a written 27 report to Mr. Mauldin with supporting documents (attached hereto as Exhibit “A”) on Wednesday, 28 February 25, 2015 (“CHP Report”). 7. COMPLAINT 1 54. Regardless of Mr. Mauldin’s appalling behavior, Plaintiff’s CHP Report evidenced 2 each communication with the above-named CHP representatives regarding the status of the CHiPs 4 3 Kids program and, further, of her medical condition that prevented her from conducting a studio tour 4 in person, completely invalidating any basis of the CHP Complaint against her. 5 55. Rather than putting a stop to this type of harassment, however, Mr. Mauldin 6 perpetuated it as set forth herein. 7 56. Even in 2015, in the spirit of reconciliation, Plaintiff believed that relations with her 8 superiors and co-workers could be mended, and she attempted to vindicate herself through her 9 diligent work. 10 57. However, while debriefing Mr. Mauldin on the CHP Report, Plaintiff asked him why 11 he verbally assaulted and physically threatened her as described above, two days prior, at which point 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 he became enraged, shouted while pounding his fist on his desk, and leaning in toward Plaintiff as he PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 did two days prior, “This is my world, this is the way it is, and you better get used to it!” (949) 442-0300 14 58. Fearing for her own safety, Plaintiff asked, “Am I free to leave?” but Mr. Mauldin did 15 not answer, and further continued his menacing behavior against Plaintiff. 16 59. Finally, Plaintiff again asked her direct supervisor Mr. Mauldin, “Am I free to leave?” 17 60. In further menacing behavior, Mr. Mauldin did not answer or otherwise verbally 18 acquiesce to Plaintiff leaving his office, but instead nodded his head and finally allowed Plaintiff to 19 leave his office. 20 61. As set forth in her supporting documents, which will be proven at trial, when Plaintiff 21 was hired in September 2010, the CHiPs 4 Kids program brought in approximately 45,000 donated 22 toys each December prior to 2010. 23 62. Under Plaintiff’s leadership, however, the CHiPs 4 Kids program had grown in 24 success and brought in 116,841 toys for December 2014—a figure that has not been achieved since. 25 63. Again, neither the CHP Complaint nor Plaintiff’s CHP Report in response thereto 26 were included in her CBS personnel file. 27 /// 28 /// 8. COMPLAINT 1 64. Even in 2016, in the spirit of reconciliation, Plaintiff believed that relations with her 2 superiors and co-workers could be mended, and she attempted to vindicate herself through her 3 diligent work. 4 65. Thereafter, on June 27, 2016, Mr. Hill personally called Plaintiff and verbally harassed 5 her in an attempt to bully Plaintiff into withdrawing her denial of Mr. Hill’s personal engagement 6 with a motivational speaking organization, due to the proposed unethical payment fee for same. 7 66. Mr. Hill apparently discovered that, on behalf of the Station, Plaintiff rejected this 8 personal engagement request because the organization was not a “non-profit” and was proposing to 9 compensate Mr. Hill in cash for the scheduled community outreach engagement. 10 67. Plaintiff calmly pointed out to Mr. Hill that this potential conflict of interest was 11 contrary to the Station’s ethics and inappropriate in the realm of community outreach.1 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 68. Plaintiff knew that Mr. Hill had a close friendship with Mr. Mauldin, and she believed PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 at the time that Mr. Hill’s belligerent and harassing behavior over the phone was an extension of Mr. (949) 442-0300 14 Mauldin’s animosity toward her. 15 69. Notwithstanding this known friendship and Mr. Mauldin’s own animosity toward her, 16 Plaintiff reported Mr. Hill’s bullying conduct to Mr. Mauldin shortly after the phone call as was the 17 stated procedure at the Station. 18 70. Only after being reported did Mr. Hill apologize for his behavior—nearly a month 19 later—on July 20, 2016. 20 71. The above instances of Unlawful Acts which Plaintiff endured are only a few of the 21 many instances that went unaddressed and/or were perpetuated by Defendants. 22 72. Subsequent to her return to work on approximately November 9, 2015 following her 23 first worker’s compensation medical leave (see below), Plaintiff was also forced to endure the 24 following: 25 (a) Her office was relocated to the “dead zone” away from colleagues and production, as part of a continued attempt to keep her maligned and isolated. 26 (b) Her time off requests and her accrual rate had been changed. 27 /// 28 1 See Exhibit “B”, p. 16. 9. COMPLAINT 1 (c) Her responsibilities were changed to create more work for her, although she was already working without staff support as the sole employee in her 2 department. 3 (d) On April 21, 2017, Human Resources trumped up an exaggerated complaint from Art Manager, Maria Shih, claiming that Plaintiff spoke “disrespectfully” 4 during a partnership program deadline with LAUSD and the LA Rams. Due to 5 creative services’ absence in supervising Ms. Shih, Plaintiff was left to supervise her and had accordingly asked Ms. Shih to simply proofread her 6 work prior to sending. This complaint led to a Human Resources initiated office-wide investigation. 7 (e) She heard a commotion in the creative services design department, which 8 Plaintiff discovered was an office brawl that took place between Graphic 9 Artist, Jeff Chayette, and Art Director, Su-E Tan. The brawl occurred in or around May 2017 on the same floor as the sales department and Plaintiff’s 10 office. Although Plaintiff was given a written reprimand in (d) above, neither of these employees were investigated and both are still employed by the 11 Station. Station leadership was apparently complicit in these acts, despite 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 CBS’s admonition that workplace violence “will lead to disciplinary action up Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 to and including termination and/or legal action as appropriate”.2 PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 Male (and even some female) co-workers “ghosted” Plaintiff as if she were not (949) 442-0300 (f) 14 there (e.g., colleagues stopped talking when Plaintiff entered a room or during meetings, Plaintiff was excluded from critical meetings that fell under her 15 responsibility and purview, etc.). 16 (g) She was removed as the project lead of the CHiPs 4 Kids planning and execution in November and December of 2015 and 2016. Plaintiff was given 17 no official explanation for her removal despite the program’s massive strides 18 under her direction and management (see above). Plaintiff ultimately learned from Assistant News Director, Tara Finestone, that Mr. Mauldin had directed 19 his assistant, Ms. Gile, to keep Plaintiff from being involved in the program meetings, thus undermining her proven success and, unfortunately, negatively 20 impacting the program. 21 (h) Mr. Draper unilaterally gave an approximate 15% raise to consultant, Mary Shibani, without conferring with Plaintiff, who was responsible for overseeing 22 Ms. Shibani’s work product. 23 (i) After previous requests to clarify her roles were rejected by Mr. Mauldin, 24 Plaintiff was told by Ms. Gile in June 2017 to no longer carry out her responsibility as on-stage event producer during the Stephanie’s Day event, 25 despite the fact that Plaintiff had created the model for the event and had been the event producer for the previous five years. Additionally, although Plaintiff 26 planned and executed the model for the event, Mr. Mauldin only recognized 27 Ms. Gile’s contribution to the event, which undermined and belittled Plaintiff’s efforts—including the efforts of student interns from surrounding universities. 28 2 See Exhibit “B”, p. 11. 10. COMPLAINT 1 (j) Plaintiff’s department was purportedly eliminated while she was on worker’s compensation medical leave, notwithstanding: (1) her attempts to return to 2 work since February 18, 2020 with Maggie Serrano of Human Resources and 3 Safety Director for the Station, Lisa Schwartz; and (2) CBS’s own counsel’s advice that Plaintiff should not be terminated. 4 (k) Plaintiff was provided no severance package, despite other same-level 5 executives’ receipt of severance packages when their employment concluded. 6 73. On January 20, 2021, Maggie Serrano from Human Resources verbally provided 7 Plaintiff with contradictory information, namely that Plaintiff’s position and department was 8 eliminated in or around November or December 2020, yet Plaintiff was not terminated until February 9 8, 2021. 10 74. Despite Plaintiff’s termination on February 8, 2021 under the pretext of eliminating 11 her department, the Station’s on-air news credits continued to list Plaintiff’s name as Director of 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 Community Relations as of at least Sunday, February 28, 2021. PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 75. The following are Plaintiff’s work-related injuries (including mental stress) and (949) 442-0300 14 medical leaves of absence during her employment with the Station, which became the basis of some 15 of the unlawful, disparate treatment she received from her superiors and fellow employees, whom 16 were loyal to Mr. Mauldin: 17 Date Injury October 19, 2013 “Concussion to Right Side Skull” 18 - Plaintiff operated a CBS station booth in South LA during a street fair, 19 where she received a concussion when a large prize wheel was knocked 20 onto her head by a booth patron. June 25, 2014 “Forward Fall and Full Body Twist; Left Foot Crushed & Right Knee Injury” 21 - Plaintiff’s left foot was crushed, and her right knee was injured during 22 a diversity television prescreening event. May 30, 2015 “Cumulative Trauma; stress, workplace harassment/retaliation” 23 - Plaintiff’s first medical leave. She returned to work November 9, 2015. 24 Plaintiff was forced to seek services from a professional therapist to cope and manage the trauma. Plaintiff’s professional therapy sessions 25 began in June 2015 and continue to this day at a frequency of twice per 26 month, the co-pays for which are out-of-pocket. 27 28 11. COMPLAINT 1 Date Injury April 20, 2017 “Injury; Right foot Ligaments Severed” 2 - Sustained while setting up retractable stands for the student and teacher 3 of the month program in connection with her responsibilities with the 4 Station. Sept. 20, 2017 “Cumulative Trauma: Toxic Workplace Harassment/Retaliation; Foot & 5 Concussion Injuries” 6 - Plaintiff’s second medical leave, for which she required professional psychiatric therapy. 7 8 76. Plaintiff’s injury on October 19, 2013 resulted in immediate dizziness, throbbing pain, 9 and ringing in her ears. Despite obtaining brief medical care, Plaintiff suffered memory lapses, 10 headaches, and ringing in her ears, all of which persist to this day. This injury also caused Plaintiff’s 11 hiatal hernia, which required medical intervention from a gastroenterologist in 2016. 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 77. In connection with her first cumulative trauma medical leave, on August 14, 2015, PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 Maggie Serrano from Human Resources verbally instructed Plaintiff to commit insurance fraud and (949) 442-0300 14 report to her primary care physician, Dr. Rita Rubinstein, that her injury was not work related, 15 despite occurring in and during the course of Plaintiff’s employment. 16 78. Upon information and belief, Plaintiff alleges that her injuries and/or medical leaves 17 of absence were a substantial motivating factor for Defendants’ participation in, and/or toleration of, 18 Unlawful Acts against her. 19 79. Beginning shortly after the commencement of her employment with the Station on 20 September 20, 2010 through her unwarranted termination on February 8, 2021, Plaintiff was a 21 frequent victim of these Unlawful Acts, of which she lodged internal complaints repeatedly, although 22 no corrective action was ever taken. 23 80. Entity Defendants and its affiliated entities have dealt with a deluge of victims’ claims 24 regarding the appalling and unlawful treatment of women and minorities by the Station’s and Entity 25 Defendants’ management within the past few decades, including a settlement with the Equal 26 27 28 12. COMPLAINT 1 Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) for $8,000,000.3 2 81. Perhaps even more indicative of this ubiquitous and pernicious behavior is the recent 3 termination of Mr. Dunn and Mr. Friend from their executive positions due to the ongoing 4 investigation into allegations of using racial slurs and engaging in other abuse of women and 5 minorities.4 6 82. According to portions of the CBS Policy Guide that Plaintiff was provided while 7 employed at the Station (“Policy Guide”) (attached hereto as Exhibit “B”): 8 It is the policy of CBS to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, 9 religion, sex, age, disability, alienage or citizenship status, marital 10 status, creed, genetic information, height or weight, sexual orientation, veteran’s status, gender identity or gender expression or any other 11 characteristic protected by law. CBS prohibits and will not tolerate any 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Suite 600 such discrimination or harassment. Laguna Hills, California 92653 12 PALUMBO LAWYERS LLP 13 ... (949) 442-0300 14 Sexual harassment constitutes discrimination and is illegal under federal, state and local laws. For the purposes of this policy, sexual 15 harassment is defined, as in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Guidelines, as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for 16 sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature 17 when, for example: (a) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s 18 employment; (b) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such 19 individual; or (c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of 20 unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an