California filed a complaint against Disney and the American channel CBS, which it accuses of having turned a blind eye to 14 years of sexual harassment on the set of the police series “Criminal minds”, officials announced on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles complaint claims that Gregory St. Johns abused his work as director of photography to touch men on the team, and that he took retaliatory action against those who refused his advances.
Assault of several men
According to the document, Gregory St. Johns touched the genitals of several men and “Kissed or caressed their neck, shoulders and ears”. This behavior was “Frequent” and was done “Openly”, according to the text.
“The complaint ensures that the executive production team was aware of and tolerated this illegal behavior, and that it dismissed a dozen men who resisted the harassment in St. John’s”, said a statement from the department responsible for enforcing fair labor practices in the state of California.
St. Johns was removed from the series after the 2018 magazine Variety published an article on the charges.
Survey since March 2019
The California department, which ensures that the law is respected including in the event of harassment in the workplace, began to investigate in March 2019. It is now seeking to obtain damages for the alleged victims.
Contacted for a reaction, Disney and CBS were not immediately available.
“Criminal Minds”, which follows a team of profilers, is a series produced jointly by Disney-owned ABC and CBS. It goes to France on TF1.
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