A former writer for TMZ filed a lawsuit Friday against the company for sexual discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination.
The suit stated that Catherine “Taryn” Hillin, who was employed by TMZ as a producer for approximately a year-and-a-half from Feb. 2012 to Sept. 2014, was the only female writer on the celebrity news website’s staff.
Hillin alleges that she was quickly advised that TMZ was a “boys club” favoring male employees over female employees, with one employee telling her, “Good luck being a girl writer.” The suit goes on to cite specific examples of discriminatory comments by executive producer Evan Rosenblum, including, “Don’t be a girl” and “Never cry in front of me.”