Oprah hit with a lawsuit? It may be hard to believe, but the hardworking, beloved television talk show host and media mogul is looking down the wrong end of a lawsuit for sex discrimination and pregnancy discrimination, among a litany of other alleged offenses, according to a Feb. 1, 2013 report by The Hollywood Reporter.
Former employee Carolyn Hommel hit Oprah Winfrey Network with the lawsuit on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The plaintiff alleged that she was replaced by a temporary worker while on medical leave, and she was excluded from meetings upon her return from leave.
Although Hommel had received a positive performance review and assurance that she was vice-president material, she was laid off just a month after delivering her baby. She applied for a vice President job with OWN, but she was not hired for the position. Hommel alleged that her pregnancy and subsequent medical leave were the reasons for the network's decision to demote her then lay her off.
Hommel's former boss Michael Garner was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Oprah Winfrey has earned a staggering amount of money since her humble beginnings as a local television personality for WTVF-TV, the local CBS station in Nashville, Tenn. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Winfrey has an estimated net worth valued at a whopping $2.7 billion. Her annual salary is $315 million. The amount of damages sought by the defendant who hit Oprah Winfrey Network with the lawsuit has not been made public.
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