Attorneys for the host as well as the production companies behind “Bar Rescue” are denying in new court papers that an actor on the show was harassed due to his long hair.
The defendants in Alex Goode’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit are Bongo LLC, 3 Ball Productions LLC, Paramount Global and “Bar Rescue” host Jonathan Taffer. In his suit, Goode alleges Bongo and the co-defendants “failed to prevent Taffer from engaging in ongoing and pervasive harassing and discriminatory conduct towards plaintiff and others on set” in violation of a Bongo policy forbidding such conduct.
But in court papers filed Tuesday and on Aug. 29, defense attorneys deny all of Goode’s claims and maintain they are barred wholly or in part by the statute of limitations. The lawyers also contend that Goode did not follow his employer’s directions and that the defendants exercised a “just and proper exercise of management discretion.”
“Bar Rescue” is a reality series on the Paramount Network in which Taffer, a food and beverage industry consultant, offers his professional expertise, renovations and equipment to troubled bars in an effort to keep them open.
Goode is an actor, digital media content creator and bartender who has had a recurring role on “Bar Rescue” as a mixologist for multiple seasons, including in 2022, when he signed a contract for that season. A section of the agreement stated that Bongo prohibited harassment by co-workers, supervisors and managers, the suit brought April 12 states.
But after work was done on a September 2022 scene, Taffer, 69, confronted Goode “in a physically intimidating manner and verbally berated him in front of colleagues for wearing his long hair down,” the suit alleges.
Taffer said Goode was “disgusting” and tried to humiliate the plaintiff because Taffer believed Goode’s hair style and length made him less masculine, according to the suit, which further states that Taffer encouraged others to also verbally attack the plaintiff.
From that point on, Goode found it hard to complete scenes with Taffer and the plaintiff also filed an internal complaint, but Paramount only said “appropriate action” had been taken after an investigation despite admitting Taffer’s alleged conduct violated company rules, according to the suit.
“Paramount provided no assurances that Taffer’s harassing behavior would cease and offered no details about what corrective action had or would be taken to ensure a workplace free of harassing conduct,” the suit alleges.
Although Paramount offered an apology from Taffer, the gesture did not relieve Goode’s concerns about a hostile work environment and he does not believe he can comfortably return to the show due to his ongoing emotional distress, the suit states.
A case management conference is scheduled Oct. 2.