beautiful_mess38
Apr 24, 2006, 04:30 PM
Mon Apr 24, 8:28 PM ET
Maury's on-camera segments dealing with sex, drugs and scandalous behavior may be nothing compared to what one producer is claiming went on behind the scenes at the show.
Bianca Nardi filed a $100 million sexual harassment lawsuit Monday against host Maury Povich and two members of his syndicated talk show's team stating that she was exposed to a gross amount of inappropriate behavior in the nearly six years she has worked for them. The 28-year-old producer also named NBC Universal Television and Povich's production company, MoPo, in her suit.
According to court documents, Nardi says she was forced to watch pornographic movies with another target of her suit, Paul Faulhaber, executive producer of Maury, and that Faulhaber insisted she wear short skirts and other sexy gear around the office.
The lawsuit also claims that Nardi's assignments included wearing hidden cameras and microphones to bars to catch married men agreeing to have sex with her and allowing cameramen to take photos of her cleavage for use on the show. She alleges that she was sent out on a lewdly themed assignment that wasn't even going to be used for the show and that she was supposed to encourage interview subjects to lie about their sexual habits to make for better TV.
When she complained about the alleged circumstances to Faulhaber, he had another producer pile up Nardi's workload so that she eventually was working more than 80 hours a week, the lawsuit states. Faulhaber also allegedly told her that, if she continued to complain, her working environment would only get worse and she'd eventually be fired.
Nardi is also suing producer Donna Benner Ingber, whom she said would call her at all hours of the night while intoxicated to discuss sexually related topics
Nardi joined the show in 2000 and was promoted twice before leaving this month on temporary medical leave, her attorney Bruce Baron said. He said that his client has been undergoing psychiatric treatment to deal with the conditions she faced at work and that she has gained weight because of all the stress.
Spokespeople for Maury and NBC Universal have denied all of the charges.
Maury's on-camera segments dealing with sex, drugs and scandalous behavior may be nothing compared to what one producer is claiming went on behind the scenes at the show.
Bianca Nardi filed a $100 million sexual harassment lawsuit Monday against host Maury Povich and two members of his syndicated talk show's team stating that she was exposed to a gross amount of inappropriate behavior in the nearly six years she has worked for them. The 28-year-old producer also named NBC Universal Television and Povich's production company, MoPo, in her suit.
According to court documents, Nardi says she was forced to watch pornographic movies with another target of her suit, Paul Faulhaber, executive producer of Maury, and that Faulhaber insisted she wear short skirts and other sexy gear around the office.
The lawsuit also claims that Nardi's assignments included wearing hidden cameras and microphones to bars to catch married men agreeing to have sex with her and allowing cameramen to take photos of her cleavage for use on the show. She alleges that she was sent out on a lewdly themed assignment that wasn't even going to be used for the show and that she was supposed to encourage interview subjects to lie about their sexual habits to make for better TV.
When she complained about the alleged circumstances to Faulhaber, he had another producer pile up Nardi's workload so that she eventually was working more than 80 hours a week, the lawsuit states. Faulhaber also allegedly told her that, if she continued to complain, her working environment would only get worse and she'd eventually be fired.
Nardi is also suing producer Donna Benner Ingber, whom she said would call her at all hours of the night while intoxicated to discuss sexually related topics
Nardi joined the show in 2000 and was promoted twice before leaving this month on temporary medical leave, her attorney Bruce Baron said. He said that his client has been undergoing psychiatric treatment to deal with the conditions she faced at work and that she has gained weight because of all the stress.
Spokespeople for Maury and NBC Universal have denied all of the charges.