A man who is suing DreamWorks Animation Television LLC, NBCUniversal LLC and other entities, alleging he was sexually harassed by a female employee, will have to shore up parts of his case, a judge has ruled.
Shaunt Nigoghossian’s Los Angeles Superior Court suit alleges that the storyboard artist, producer and director was wrongfully fired by the defendants in 2022 in retaliation for complaining about being sexually harassed and stalked by show coordinator Veronica Blakney.
Nigoghossian contends Blakney once hacked into his Apple, Gmail and bank accounts. On Friday, Judge Steven Ellis ruled that while Nigoghossian has provided enough facts for now to support his harassment claim, he will have to provide more information for his causes of action for negligent hiring, supervision and retention as well as his claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“Plaintiff has sufficiently alleged that he was subject to severe or pervasive harassment by a co-employee and that even after the (defendants) had been notified of the harassment, (they) did not take appropriate corrective action,” the judge wrote, while adding that he “does not know whether plaintiff’s allegations are entirely true, entirely false or somewhere in between.”
However, the judge said he was skeptical he can be convinced by further briefing that the other two causes of action should survive. He gave the plaintiff until Feb. 20 to file an amended complaint.
The defendants’ dismissal motion did not challenge Nigoghossian’s multiple other causes of action, which include discrimination and retaliation.
Nigoghossian, 47, was hired as a supervising producer in May 2020 and has established himself as an accomplished storyboard artist, producer and director in the entertainment industry, contributing to notable works such as “King of the Hill,” “Scooby Doo” and “Justice League,” the suit states.
Nigoghossian and Blakney were colleagues who became friends in September 2021 after Blakney requested a meeting with Nigoghossian and asked him questions about his career, the suit states. Thereafter, there was sometimes flirtation and occasional outings between the two, but Nigoghossian had made clear to Blakney that he did not want to pursue a relationship with her, the suit states.
But Blakney allegedly continued to insist the two have a dating relationship and in September 2022, she left Nigoghossian multiple voicemails threatening to ruin his career if he didn’t break up with his partner, date her, have sex with her and take her on vacations, the suit filed in December 2024 states.
Nigoghossian complained about Blakney to human resources the next month and was fired in November 2022, according to the suit, which further states that management falsely claimed he had dated Blakney and told him that was the reason for his termination.
Nigoghossian also contends that he was mocked by management for contending that he was a male victim of sexual harassment. Nigoghossian said human resources appeared to believe Blakney’s side of the story and that he is now blacklisted in the industry.