Former TMZ Employee Files Complaint Over “Sexist, Misogynistic” Culture

Bernadette Zilio called the gossip site a "bro-fest" in her complaint

TMZ boss Harvey Levin at the website's offices in Glendale
TMZ boss Harvey Levin at the website's offices in Glendale.
Ann Johansson/Corbis via Getty Images

A former employee of TMZ has reportedly filed a complaint against the company with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, claiming she was subjected to discrimination and retaliation as a part of the gossip outlet’s misogynistic workplace culture, Deadline reported.

Bernadette Zilio, 27, worked at TMZ from 2015 until earlier this year. In her complaint she describes the company as a “boy’s club,” a “bro-fest” and “a frat house” where women were held to a higher standard than their male colleagues and frequently discriminated against.

“The only way to fix a toxic work environment is to truly encourage employees to speak up and provide a genuinely effective avenue to raise concerns,” David E. Gottlieb and Bryan L. Arbeit, laywers for Zilio, said in a statement. They added that Zilio “was shunned after she first complained, fired after she complained a second time and then threatened if she dared to speak publicly about her experiences.”

A representative for TMZ and its sister site TooFab, however, claimed that Zilio was fired from the company “because of multiple and documented incidents of plagiarism and inaccurate reporting” and said the company is prepared to fight her allegations, calling her complaint “a blatant attempt to use negative publicity and inaccurate claims to force TooFab and TMZ to pay a monetary settlement.”

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