‘Bachelor’ Producers Sued for Alleged Sexual Harassment

The company behind The Bachelor franchise is reportedly being sued for sexual harassment by a former employee claiming producers asked her “sexually invasive” questions outside the purview of the show.

Warner Bros. Entertainment and a number of producers for the franchise are named in the suit filed by Becky Steenhoek on Monday in the Los Angeles Superior Court, reports the L.A. Times.

Steenhoek alleges that the harassment occurred during her time working on the 2016 season of The Bachelorette featuring JoJo Fletcher.

In the suit, she alleges she was asked a number of questions about her own sex life, including, “Is your vagina shaved?,” “Have you ever fondled (testicles) before?” and “Have you ever sat under a shower faucet or touched yourself to masturbate?”

These questions, she alleges, were designed to embarrass her because of her “sexual inexperience and conservative views about sex.”

“You could visibly tell it was very uncomfortable to me to witness, just because they did make comments like, ‘Oh, Becky’s blushing,’ or ‘Her ears are probably burning,’” Steenhoek told the L.A. Times. “It was a bit of a theme that carried on throughout the season … it was a fun time for them to see me get embarrassed.”

In the suit, Steenhoek said that when she complained about the questioned to cast producer Caitlin Stapleton, she told her, “This is the way of the industry and world that we work in.”

“She just told me, ‘Listen, this is just how it is,’” Steenhoek told the L.A. Times.”‘These are middle-aged white men. This is locker-room talk. This is their way of showing that they’re trying to bond with you.’”

The former production assistant claims soon after she complained about this harassment her duties were diminished and she was soon told she wouldn’t be needed for the rest of the season.

She is suing for damages related to sexual harassment and hostile work environment, sex discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful termination.

Warner Bros. and NZK Productions are both named in the suit, as are Elan Gale, Peter Scalettar, Jacqueline Naz Perez, Stapleton and Bennett Graebner.

Warner Bros. issued a statement Monday afternoon regarding the lawsuit.

“We take all allegations of workplace harassment very seriously,” Warner Bros. said in a statement. “These allegations were brought to our attention and were thoroughly investigated earlier this year. Our findings did not support the plaintiff’s characterization of the events claimed to have taken place, which is why we are disappointed by the filing of this lawsuit.”