Dr. Phil McGraw was accused of wrongful termination, failure to pay salaries in a well timed method and discrimination by his former publicist.
McGraw’s former publicist Jerry Sharell filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court docket on Thursday, August 20, in response to The Los Angeles Instances. Sharell claimed he started working for McGraw, 75, in 2016 and was promoted to vice chairman of promoting three years later. When the TV character left CBS and launched Benefit Avenue Media in 2023, Sharell adopted go well with, whereas sustaining the identical position.
Sharell claimed he moved to Dallas for the job, the place he was allegedly “deliberately excluded” from his 20 co-workers as a result of he was brazenly “homosexual.” In accordance with Sharell, he was singled out earlier than being placed on hiatus.
Sharell claimed he labored for McGraw for 10 years till March, when his job allegedly modified from “being handled as an worker with advantages” to that of an impartial contractor. He claimed to have misplaced his advantages, together with his medical health insurance protection, and obtained a 30 % pay reduce.
Though Sharell says his duties remained the identical, he felt “compelled” to just accept the brand new circumstances below “a variety of duress and stress” since he was advised the corporate valued the loyalty of its workers.
In March, Sharall was reportedly knowledgeable that his place had been “suspended” for “monetary issues.” Court docket paperwork declare no different workers have been equally positioned on furlough or had their pay lowered.
McGraw, who later launched Envoy Media after Benefit Avenue was stricken by chapter filings, has not publicly responded to the accusations, though his lawyer criticized Sharell’s submitting. We requested remark.
“Jerry Sharell was placed on hiatus over the summer season, as is frequent on this business, notably for a media start-up,” the lawyer mentioned. Chip Babcockwho represents Envoy Media, mentioned We in an announcement. “He was not fired for any motive and positively not due to his sexual orientation. These allegations towards Envoy and Dr. Phil are trumped up as a result of he has handled LGBTQ+ communities with dignity and respect for 25 years, together with defending his visitors who have been attacked due to their sexual preferences.”
Babcock additional claimed that Sharell’s lawsuit was “an effort to keep away from pending arbitration” between the tv star and the promoting worker.
“The corporate and Dr. Phil will vigorously defend these claims,” he added in his assertion.
Benefit Avenue filed for chapter (chapter 11) in 2025, which a court docket dominated final October was improperly filed. After the authorized defeat, McGraw based Envoy.