A former video producer and editor who worked primarily on “American Idol” and contended that he resigned because of a hostile work environment has reached a tentative settlement in his harassment/retaliation lawsuit against FremantleMedia North America Inc.
An attorney for plaintiff Mitchell Hadley filed court papers Friday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Doreen Boxer notifying her of a “conditional” resolution in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed within 10 days of receipt of the settlement amount, which was not disclosed in the court papers.
In his lawsuit brought in July 2024, Hadley also named Burbank-based staffing agency Gep Talent Services LLC as a defendant, but that party was dropped from the case in February.
Hadley contended that he quit in July 2023 rather than continue tolerating a work environment in which the show’s executive producer exposed himself to the plaintiff and others in a hotel room and a digital producer tried to kiss Hadley during a Christmas gathering. Hadley contended that management ignored his complaints.
However, in their court papers Fremantle attorneys denied Hadley’s allegations, said they were barred by the statute of limitations and should have been addressed in the workers’ compensation arena rather than in court.
Hired in May 2017, Hadley was primarily assigned to “American Idol” and his main tasks were to lead digital technical production, filming, conceptualizing and editing of social media content in addition to designing and creating promotional content.
In September 2021 during an “American Idol” audition in Texas, the show’s executive producer invited Hadley and others to the hotel suite booked for Fremantle’s executive in charge of production, then the executive producer suddenly pulled his pants off and exposed himself while jumping up and down, the suit alleged.
In December 2022, while at a digital producer’s home, the latter tried to kiss Hadley without permission, the suit stated. In retaliation, the digital producer become hostile to Hadley and assigned him additional work without compensation, according to the suit.