Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyer Blog

A former model on the popular daytime television game show The Price is Right has sued the show and its producers for alleged wrongful termination and sexual harassment, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Charges of sexual harassment in Los Angeles are serious because they imply that a person has been subjected to unwanted sexually based comments or behavior while at work. Sadly, this happens all the time. People in power tend to abuse that power and somehow think it is excusable. In other cases, they may attempt to pass it off as a joke and suggest the employee is being too "sensitive."

Fighting back with an experienced and aggressive Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyer is the best way to show the person and the company you mean business. You can protect your job and prevent other employees from suffering similar abuse.

In a recently filed lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the former worker alleges that upper management at the show used "power and control over women by bullying and harassing" the female workers. The lawsuit states that the model began working at the show in 2003 and had no problems until 2009, when one of the show's producers stopped talking to her and started to show favoritism to another model with whom he was in a relationship.

The lawsuit cites one alleged incident when a producer burst into a dressing room and berated the model -- while she was topless and wearing only a pair of underwear -- in front of other models for not wearing a microphone. The lawsuit states that many times models don't wear microphones because of the quick turnaround in changing outfits.

Another worker apologized for the incident, but it wasn't reported to management. When she was called into a meeting about sexual harassment against another model, she complained about her own treatment.

And months later, she asked for a day off for a family commitment and was told not to work the entire week. When she returned, she was told she was "holding the show hostage" because of her complaint.

In these tough economic times, the perpetrators of sexual harassment somehow believe that they have even more power because no one wants to rock the boat and potentially lose their job. With unemployment soaring -- it's around 12 percent in California -- this is another way to exploit power and try to treat employees in a manner that is against the law.

But standing up to these injustices is critical. Even if someone isn't facing the harassment, they can be a whistleblower and receive protection from the state and federal government in order to ensure they keep their job.

Sometimes lawsuits are the only way to teach a company and its managers the right way to do things. If a culture of harassment is so engrained that workers feel helpless and bosses have no rules and feel they can operate as they wish, a jury may be the only way to change the atmosphere.