A former producer at a Burbank-based studio has settled her lawsuit against her ex-employer in which she alleged she was forced to quit in 2020 because her boss fostered an environment in which he said he needed to “fire, bribe or strangle” his female employees to get them to obey him.
Scarlet Sheppard brought the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Gen Z Studios LLC and her former supervisor, Joseph Lackey, in July 2021, alleging gender discrimination and harassment, whistleblower retaliation and failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation. On Wednesday, her attorneys filed court papers with Judge Alison Mackenzie notifying her of the case resolution, but no terms were revealed.
In a separate suit brought against Sheppard on Jan. 22, Gen Z alleged the woman breached a contract between the parties by publishing behind-the-scenes videos of her work for Gen Z on YouTube and TikTok without written permission.
“Gen Z paid Sheppard for her work, but Sheppard stole Gen Z’s property for her own pecuniary gain,” the Gen Z suit alleged.
Mackenzie consolidated the two cases into one lawsuit on May 24.
According to Sheppard’s suit, she was hired at Gen Z in mid-2018 as a producer, and her duties included writing, camera operation, scheduling talent and acting.
“Throughout her employment, plaintiff performed consistently and met company expectations,” the suit stated.
Sheppard began wearing a mask at the office in March 2020 because of the coronavirus, prompting Lackey to ask during her regular Monday morning work meetings, “Are you sick?,” according to the suit.
Sheppard answered that she was taking precautions due to the pandemic and expected others, including Lackey, to also do so, but he instead would make light of it and often brought people into the studio who wore no face coverings, the suit stated.
When Sheppard complained that the maskless visitors posed a health risk to herself and her colleagues, Lackey referred to her as “psychotic,” treating her in a way he never did with male employees, the suit stated.
In August 2020, Lackey increased his harassment of Sheppard, telling her during a lunch break that she ate like a trucker and he was surprised she was able to maintain her figure, the suit stated.
That same month, Sheppard overheard Lackey say, “I don’t know what to do to get these girls to do the (expletive) I want them to do, I need to fire, bribe or strangle them,” the suit stated.
Sheppard, appalled by the alleged Lackey comments, made an internal complaint the next day and subsequently told Lackey that she was unhappy about what he said, the suit stated.
Lackey “vehemently denied making these statements and claimed that Ms. Sheppard was a cancer that needed to be removed, that she was bipolar and had a low IQ,” according to the suit.
Lackey, in alleged retaliation for her complaint, degraded Sheppard’s psychological well-being, stating, “I think Ms. Sheppard was molested and that is why she is sick in the head,” the suit stated.
After Lackey’s alleged remark, Sheppard immediately quit, the suit stated.