A judge has denied for now a bid by NBCUniversal Media LLC to dismiss sexual battery and state Labor Code claims in a lawsuit brought by a former employee who says a former executive coerced him into an intimate relationship and threatened blacklisting in the industry if the plaintiff left him.
Plaintiff Tyler Adkins, 28, filed the lawsuit against NBCUniversal and co-employer Now a Warning LLC in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging a variety of causes of action, ranging from whistleblower retaliation, assault and battery to sexual harassment and multiple state Labor Code violations involving wage and hour claims. Among the individual defendants is Chris Herzberger, NBCUniversal’s former vice president of live theatricals and the focus of Adkins’ sexual misconduct allegations.
On Monday, Judge Maurice Leiter ruled that Adkins can proceed with the assault, sexual battery, battery and Labor Code claims against NBC Universal and Now a Warning. The defendants contended that Adkins’ work was performed primarily in Illinois, but the judge said he was convinced there was a proper California connection.
“Plaintiff alleges that he and defendants are residents of California, that he worked for supervisors based in California and performed work in California for a California based company,” the judge wrote, adding that Adkins had provided enough for now to allege that California Labor Code and Unfair Competition Laws apply.
Regarding the sexual misconduct allegations, the judge noted that Adkins contends that Herzberger used his employment with the companies to facilitate his alleged abuses of the plaintiff.
“Plaintiff alleges that defendants knew of and willfully failed to intervene to prevent Herberger’s sexual misconduct,” the judge wrote. “This is sufficient to state claims for assault and battery against defendants.”
NBCUniversal and Now a Warning also are seeking dismissal of the claims via an anti-SLAPP motion which the judge took under submission after hearing arguments.
In their court papers, defense attorneys stated that Adkins and Herzberger enjoyed a three-year, committed romantic relationship and seemed to “have it all,” but their relationship abruptly ended in June 2024 when Adkins accused Herzberger of cheating on him and found text messages suggesting that Herzberger was involved in sexual conduct with minors.
“Adkins then filed this lawsuit, re-casting their consensual, loving relationship as a series of exploitive acts,” the NBC attorneys further state. “The claim is baseless — and largely subject to California’s Anti-SLAPP statute.”
The state’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
According to the suit, Herzberger contacted Adkins through Instagram in March 2021 and the plaintiff hoped he would be eventually offered a job. However, Herzberger turned the meeting into a romantic encounter rather than a business opportunity, the suit alleges.
“Once at Mr. Herzberger’s home, Mr. Herzberger told plaintiff that plaintiff should have sex with him and that it would help plaintiff’s career if he complied with Mr. Herzberger’s suggestion,” according to the suit filed Feb. 13, which further alleges that Adkins reluctantly relented.
Adkins says he was eventually given a job in 2024 and with NBCUniversal writer Marco Pennette in connection with the musical “Death Becomes Her.”
Adkins’ alleges that Herzberger threatened to blacklist the plaintiff from the entertainment industry if he left their relationship, and further states that Adkins also experienced a backlash from NBCUniversal when he informed management as well as the police of Herzberger’s sexual behavior that allegedly went beyond the pale.
Adkins was fired in June 2024.