Fired BET Producer Alleges Sexual Harassment Prior To Nicki Minaj Interview

A former BET producer, is suing the network because she claims she was fired for refusing to work with a man who had sexually harassed her. Plus, executives allegedly pushed her out after she revealed that she was pregnant.

In the lawsuit, Tameika Dorman says that in 2009 camera operator Derek Clarke repeatedly showed her footage he took of her walking up stairs in a mini-skirt while they were editing a segment that she was hosted and produced. According to the Daily News, when Dorman asked why he was replaying the video he, “grabbed and repeatedly rubbed his crotch, began to moan, and said it was because he loved her butt, that she was sexy and that she did not know what he was going to do to her.”

She ran from the room crying and told a supervisor, who promised to keep Clarke away from her. Yet, in November 2010 they were nearly forced to work together again on a Nicki Minaj interview. Dormen says the usual camera operator was pulled from the segment and replaced with Clarke. According to Courthouse News, Dorman claims she was told Clarke and his son wanted to meet Minaj, which would violate BET’s policy of banning nonessential personnel from celebrity interviews. Dormen complained and the original camera operator did the interview, but later she received a written warning for refusing to work with Clarke.

Around the same time, Dormen told human resources that she was pregnant. She says she was consulted less by co-workers, and replaced as producer of the red-carpet coverage of the BET Honors awards show. BET investigated her sexual harassment claim and said that the story couldn’t be corroborated, but no one even bothered to interview an employee who witnessed the incident. Eventually, Dorman was replaced with a man and told the company was “going in a different direction.”

Dormen says, “I’m now pregnant and without a job, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.” She’s suing the company for gender and pregnancy discrimination, and her lawyer says they’ll prove she was let go, “because she had the guts to stand up against sexual harassment.”

Ex-BET Producer Claims She Was Fired For Complaining About Pervy Cameraman During Nicki Minaj Shoot [N.Y. Daily News]
Harassment At BET Claims In Lead-Up To Nicki Minaj Sketch [Courthouse News]