Oprah hit with a lawsuit after former employee claims sex discrimination by OWN network after she became pregnant, says a report from today at The Hollywood Gossip.
The report says Carolyn Hommel, a female executive with the network, claims "she got the chop after getting pregnant!" In the lawsuit, filed Friday, Hommel says she was hired in 2010 as senior director of scheduling and acquisitions at Oprah's OWN network. She states she was advised she was on the right track to becoming a Vice President with OWN, but says once she became pregnant... things changed. She alleges her duties were slowly handed off to a "temporary employee" and she was excluded from meetings on her return from medical leave.
Carolyn says OWN retroactively tried to make her appear like a weaker candidate for the new vice president position than she was. They fired her one month after she had her baby, and told her to re-apply for the Vice President position -- which she did -- only the be promptly turned down. She claims her former boss, Michael Garner fabricated her performance review to make it seem as if her "job duties and responsibilities appear less 'senior'."
Hommel says fabrication of her performance, and dismissal were a direct result of her becoming pregnant and requiring medical leave.
Oprah has not responded to being hit with a lawsuit.
What do you think? Does Oprah deserve to be sued?
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