Dr. Phil Sued for Wrongful Termination, Harassment, and Retaliation

Talk show host Dr. Phil is being sued for verbally assaulting an employee. His inappropriate outburst allegedly left the employee, Leah Rothman, with emotional distress. Rothman worked on the Dr. Phil Show from December 2013 to April 24, 2015.

Along with verbal assault, Rothman is suing Dr. Phil and his business partners for false imprisonment, whistleblower retaliation, and wrongful termination.

In the legal documents, Rothman goes into detail about the alleged false imprisonment. She claims that on March 11, 2015, her and about 300 other employees were told to all go to a room, where security officials were present. Dr. Phil then entered the room and insisted that the doors to the room be locked. In addition, Phil requested that every employee turn his or her phone off. It was here that Dr. Phil began yelling at Rothman and the rest of the employees, alleging that someone had leaked insider information to the press. All the while, Phil was yelling profanities, threats, and slamming items down.

After the meeting, Rothman claims she began to experience emotional distress. She met with HR to file a formal complaint about Dr. Phil’s inappropriate behavior. It was there that the HR executive told Rothman that the Dr. Phil Show had been a continuous problem for the network since the beginning, but that they needed him and the show because he was their “cash cow.”

After Rothman’s unsuccessful encounter with a CBS HR Executive she began to experience anxiety upon arriving to work. The anxiety grew so bad that Rothman eventually quit her job. Rothman is currently seeking damages and attorney fees.

Do you think Rotham is exaggerating the incident in order to capitalize on the CBS ‘cash cow’?