A proposed consent decree that includes a $3 million fine to be paid by ABC Signature LLC as well as required sexual harassment training as part of a settlement of litigation alleging the company looked the other way while a crew member for “Criminal Minds” inappropriately touched men on the set for years is now in the hands of a judge.
A hearing Wednesday on the suit filed by the California Department of Civil Rights, formerly known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, ended with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson taking the tentative consent decree under submission.
The lawsuit brought in May 2020 alleges that more than a dozen men were fired for complaining about the alleged behavior of the show’s photography director, Gregory St. Johns.
“The parties agree that it is in the parties’ best interests, and in the public interest to fully and finally resolve this matter on mutually agreeable terms, reaching a compromise and settlement of all claims without trial of any issues of fact or law … and without resort to protracted litigation,” the CRD attorneys state in their court papers.
The $3 million fine would be allocated at the CRD’s discretion and include the department’s attorneys’ fees, the CRD’s court papers state.
ABC Signature, formerly known as Touchstone Television Productions LLC, also would be required to distribute company policies and complaint procedures regarding the prevention of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation, with explanations on how a person can complain and how to contact human resources personnel, the CRD court papers state.
ABC Signature also would have to conduct training or non-supervisory and supervisory employees, and the company must maintain records of the training and send confirmation on an annual basis to the CRD that it took place, according to the CRD’s court papers.
According to the suit, St. Johns regularly touched numerous men on the testicles, anus, butt cheeks, breasts and kissed or caressed their necks, shoulders and ears.
The suit also alleged St. Johns “doted” on certain men and treated them more favorably, provided they acquiesced to his attention. He allegedly retaliated against those who resisted by giving them the “silent treatment, social ostracism, unfair criticism, public shaming, and ultimately termination.”
With the aid of studio executives, St. Johns created an “unchecked intimidating, hostile and offensive work environment on the set of `Criminal Minds,”’ the suit alleges.
The studio executives fired more than a dozen men at St. Johns’ request, including an entire electrical crew, after they resisted St. Johns’ alleged harassment, the suit states. St. Johns was also sued, but later dropped as a defendant.
ABC and CBS co-produced the show, which aired on CBS from September 2005 until February 2020 and was about a group of criminal profilers who worked for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit.