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Employee Initiates Lawsuit Claiming Eating Disorder Discrimination
4-Jul-2008
Written by: Jason Townsend-Rogers
An employee on Rachael Ray’s show claims he was fired due to his suffering from an eating disorder.
Apparently, a show that promotes healthy eating expects its employees to be healthy as well; if not, the consequences could be disastrous.
An accountant for Rachael Ray’s television cooking show discovered this the hard way when he was released from his job due to his eating disorder. He has since decided to file a $1 million lawsuit against the network.
According to CNN.com, the accountant, named Aaron Ferguson, has had anorexia for six years, and in papers filed with Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, mentions that the supervisor displayed "hostile behavior" towards him, along with making disrespectful statements such as anorexics are sick in the head and should not be working.
Ferguson’s lawyer, William H. Kaiser, made it clear that the network disrespected Ferguson and that his firing was retaliation for him complaining about his current situation.
Ferguson started working for CBS Television distribution, a CBS Corp. unit, in July 2007. This unit was the producer and owner of the Rachael Ray show.
Kaiser said the firing was retaliation for his complaints regarding his situation.
According to CNN.com, the lawsuit, which was filed last Wednesday, names CBS Corp., CBSTD Inc. and three employees of the show as defendants. Interestingly, Ray herself is not included in the suit.
Let’s hope the results of this trial do little to sully Ray’s positive media image.
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