DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT
During the time that the Agreement and Amendment was in effect, Klein and all other female wrestlers were paid a lower wage than their comparable male counterparts.
On or about January 13, 2017, while Klein was in a hot tub near the pool of a hotel where the wrestlers were staying the night before an event, Shipman approached Klein and, while leering at her in a way that made Klein uncomfortable, started harassing her by asking her questions about whether her boyfriend was there, if she was staying in the hotel alone and how long she would be at the hotel. Shipman’s behavior made Klein very uncomfortable.
On or about January 25, 2017, Klein received an email from ROH management advising her and the other wrestlers that Shipman would be the new agent assigned to work with the female wrestlers. One day later, Klein responded to the e-mail and explained that she had witnessed and experienced several situations with Shipman that made her uncomfortable to work with him. She advised ROH management that she was not willing to work with Shipman and requested that another agent be assigned to her matches. Klein went on to explain that she had not expressed this sooner for fear of backlash or retaliation
In February of 2017, BJ Whitmer, another male wrestler signed to ROH, was informed by Shipman that Johnston informed Shipman that Klein had complained about him.
In July of 2018, Sinclair, by and through their human resources department, spoke with Klein regarding another female wrestler’s complaints regarding Shipman. Klein informed the department of her situation with Shipman in 2017 and was informed that no information had been received and no investigation was done. Klein also informed the department that Shipman knew she accused him of sexually harassing behavior
On or about November 3, 2018, a meeting between the female wrestlers and ROH management occurred. Todd Sinclair, Koff, Riccaboni, and Johnston were present. The discussion centered around the disparate treatment between the male and female talent of ROH despite the success of the female division of ROH. Specifically, the female talent discussed the lack of storylines; the way women were portrayed; the amount of television exposure, and why they were not being represented more in the marketing of the show. Management advised the female wrestlers that there was not enough time on the show so management was forced to think outside the box, producing YouTube content and social media marketing regarding the female talent
On or about December 17, 2018, Klein had email correspondence and a phone conversation with Gilliand regarding her salary. Specifically, after she saw the initial offer for $20,000.00 for 2019, she asked if it would be possible for her salary to be increased to $24,000.00. Gilliand rejected this because he stated that all female wrestlers in ROH were paid the same and that if he paid Klein more, then all of the other women wrestlers would have to be paid more. This salary was substantially below the salary that the male wrestlers were paid and the decision to pay the salary was based upon the fact that Klein was a female. Klein was asked to make more appearances, with no limit regarding the frequency of appearances, than the other female talent. Plaintiff learned that at least one male member of ROH talent was paid $184,000.00 and was afforded single-occupancy rooming.
On or about January 30, 2019, Klein had a discussion with Sinclair regarding the lack of creativity in the female talent’s storylines as compared to the male talent
On or about March 7, 2019, Klein was informed by Adam Birch that someone in management did not want her to go to training because Shipman would be there
On or about September 30, 2019, Klein had a discussion with Lauren Sisselman, a ROH employee who arranges travel, regarding Klein traveling to the dojo in Baltimore to train. Lauren said Gilliand had told her that if Shipman was going to be there, that Klein could not be there and instructed her to wait to confirm Shipman’s presence before allowing Klein to come.
On or about November 7, 2019, Klein met with Koff to discuss fair pay and sexual harassment. A human resources employee from Sinclair Broadcasting, Caitlin, was also present. Plaintiff advised Koff that the salaries for the female talent were not comparable to that of the male talent. Further, Klein complained about the sexual harassment by Shipman. Koff said he thought it had been resolved. Plaintiff told him it had not, but Plaintiff had just stopped talking about it because nothing had ever been done. Plaintiff had brought this up to HR in 2018 and that management had revealed her name to Shipman/Jay Lethal, even though there was no formal investigation, which created a hostile work environment for her. Koff stated that there was no documentation for the 2018 claim and that HR was only for employees and she was not an employee. When Klein asked for policies, Koff informed her that her contract was her “handbook.”
Plaintiff alleges that the Defendants terminated her contract as of December 31, 2019, because of her complaints regarding the disparate pay for WHO female wrestlers, the lack of safety and medical protocols after Plaintiff suffered the concussion in October of 2019, and the sexual harassment at ROH.