A judge has granted the production companies behind “Bar Rescue” approval to countersue a former supervising culinary producer for the show who alleges he was fired earlier this year in retaliation for reporting unprofessional conduct by a manager.
The defendants in plaintiff Haig Jabourian’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit are Bongo LLC, 3 Ball Productions LLC and Ball Productions LLC. Jabourian alleges that despite his “untarnished employment record … a clear pattern of hostility and retaliation began against him promptly upon his complaints of a hostile work environment.”
On Wednesday, Judge Tiana J. Murillo gave the go-ahead to the companies to countersue Jabourian for conversion and receiving stolen property concerning about $3,115 in petty cash with which the plaintiff was allegedly entrusted, but failed to return when he was terminated. The companies were not immediately aware of the missing money when their attorneys filed their answer to the suit brought last Oct. 14, according to the firms’ attorneys’ court papers.
In her ruling, the judge said Jabourian’s prejudice will not be prejudiced by allowing the filing of countersuit, that permitting it now is not untimely and that even if the court agreed it lacks merit, it is still appropriate to allow it.
The 34-year-old Jabourian’s suit alleges retaliation, failure to prevent retaliation and wrongful termination.
“Bar Rescue” is a reality series on the Paramount Network in which Jonathan Taffer, a food and beverage industry consultant, offers his professional expertise, renovations and equipment to troubled bars in an effort to keep them open.
In his suit, Jabourian states that he saw the show’s production manager display “blatantly inappropriate, aggressive and hostile behavior” toward Jabourian’s associate producer in his department last November.
Jabourian approached the production manager about what he witnessed, but after the manager became hostile, the plaintiff then consulted with the show’s managing agent, a friend of the production manager, the suit states.
However, the managing agent and production manager “engaged in a scheme to brush plaintiff’s complaints under the rug and fabricate issues regarding Jabourian’s job performance to detract from his complaints, the suit alleges.
Jabourian was under the impression that the production manager either felt his relationship with the managing agent gave him “carte blanche authority” to harass whomever he wanted or that the managing agent made the production manager believe he had such authority, according to the suit.
When the managing agent told Jabourian to scheduled a meeting with human resources, the plaintiff believed it was to address his work environment complaints, the suit states. Instead, a human resources representative told Jabourian that the session was called to address gripes against the plaintiff, according to the suit.
“Moreover, it had become clear that there was a specific and targeted campaign … to retaliate against plaintiff for his complaints,” according to the suit, which further alleges that someone shut off the gas and water while Jabourian and his team were working “in a clear attempt” to make them fall behind.
Jabourian filed a complaint about his work environment with human resources in December 2023, but the hostility continued and he was warned about possible termination, the suit states. In June of this year, the managing agent called the plaintiff and told him that he was being fired for an alleged inappropriate outburst in front of others, including cast members, the suit states.
Jabourian denies an outburst occurred and says he has suffered financial losses and emotional distress since losing his job.