comScore
  1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough
  8. The Braiser

Busting bad dish!

Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network Hit With Sex Discrimination Lawsuit

Truth rating: 10

(GettyImages)

Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network has been hit with a sex discrimination lawsuit.

A former employee named Carolyn Hommel filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, claiming she lost her job because she got pregnant.

Hommel was hired in 2010 as senior director of scheduling and acquisitions at the network and has received positive performance reviews before being forced to take medical leave due to the pregnancy.

According to Hommel’s lawsuit, the temporary employee who replaced her ultimately assumed more and more of her duties, and when she eventually returned to the office, Hommel was allegedly excluded from meetings.

She was allegedly laid off just one month after giving birth to her daughter.

Hommel was supposedly told to re-apply for a vice president job she’d previously been on track to get — only to get passed over.

In her lawsuit, Hommel claims her superior Michael Garner fabricated a performance review to diminish her previous responsibilities, ruining her chances at promotion.

Hommel says her dismissal was a direct result of her pregnancy medical leave, and is seeking unspecified damages.

Follow @GossipCop on Twitter!

Like us on Facebook!

You might like:


  • skeptik

    I don’t believe this at all. there has to be something more to this. Do you really think that Oprah’s company will do something like this that will open her to any type of lawsuits? Something’s missing here.

  • Martina

    I believe that! Money is all that matters now . Pregnant woman is a burden …..specially to money hungry Oprah.
    No need to add in that I don’t buy that “Oprah persona”!
    Rich and powerful people believe they can get away with anything. Who would mess with Oprah, right?!

  • reneeislookin

    You shouldn’t comment on a subject matter based on “Rich and powerful people.” Oprah has had several women on her staff that have given birth and returned to their positions both on her talk show and her network. I agree with Skeptik.

    There is something else that is not being stated going on with this situation. Just recently, Oprah had to lay off a whole department for which she cried and was upset the whole time her team was coming to the lay off conclusion. She had some of the staff moved to positions in different departments and companies and she provided a huge severance packet for those she could not placed. Some of her employees boasted about their severance packets saying it was their salaries for about two years. She wanted to make sure they could still carry their households while they looked for new employment. That doesn’t sound like someone who would do something like this to someone due to their pregnancy. AND money…Oprah probably makes 40 to 50 times more in interest than what that woman made a year. Money was not the factor however, with this suit in place, money is the factor now.

    You need to think about things before you speak even if it is your opinion. I am not saying that Oprah is perfect and, I am not a big fan. I watched periodically when she had her show and I don’t watch her network programs at all and I have cable. I am not interested in her programs but, she gives and she gives a lot and she helps many people including her staff. People who work for her say though it is grueling, they can’t and couldn’t see themselves working elsewhere because of the perks.

    It may be something with the supervision if he indeed fabricated some reviews but, that has nothing to do with Oprah. The article is so ill written but something that happens in the human resource department doesn’t necessarily mean it was Oprah that committed the “sex discrimination.”

Abrams Media Network click here for advertising opportunities
X