Ex-Employee Suing Dr. Phil for Alleged False Imprisonment and Wrongful Termination
A former Dr. Phil employee is suing Dr. Phil McGraw for allegedly holding 300 employees in a room staffed by security guards as he made accusations that one of them had leaked information to the media.
Leah Rothman’s lawsuit against McGraw, his production company and CBS claims she was forced quit the show in April 2015 due to a hostile work environment. She had worked on the show since 2003.
In court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Rothman alleges that on March 11, 2015, she was called into work on her day off, where she and approximately 300 Dr. Phil employees were gathered into a room staffed with several security guards. McGraw allegedly entered the room, told the guards to lock the doors and ordered the employees to turn over their phones.
McGraw then allegedly said one of his employees had leaked information to the media and that he had turned over the case to federal authorities.
“If you f— with me, I’ll f— with you,” he allegedly said, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit further claims that McGraw read from cue cards during the meeting – which Rothman says indicates he had planned it for some time. The alleges claims McGraw took pleasure in scaring his employees and that Rothman later learned he already knew who had leaked the information to the press, and that the meeting was designed to frighten his workers.
