Former skateboarder Rob Dyrdek is being sued by a former employee for gender discrimination and harassment, according to multiple reports. The former employee, Courtney Roberson, claimed she was fired from Dyrdek’s company, Get Mindright, after revealing she was pregnant. The court documents state that Roberson was put in an uncomfortable position as a pregnant employee and had to “endure unlawful pay, excessive hours, and other abject working conditions that violated employment and labor laws.”
Roberson alleged that Dyrdek and his co-collaborator, Chris Bernard, fired her after she said she needed to take “a leave due to the pregnancy and related conditions.” The lawsuit goes on to state that Dyrdek and Bernard “assumed” she was an “independent contractor” brought in to help boost the company and not an employee. And when Roberson announced her pregnancy, her wages were allegedly “reduced by about 40%.”
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According to The Blast, Roberson says she is suffering “economic damages, including past and continuing loss of wages and other employment benefits, and noneconomic damages, including pain, suffering, and mental and emotional distress.” She also claims that due to the situation, she is experiencing “sleeplessness, loss of appetite, humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish, stress and worry, nervousness, loss of self-esteem, fatigue, anxiety, shock, feelings of isolation, and loss of enjoyment of life.” Roberson is asking for more than $25,000 from Dyrdek and Get Mindright Inc.
Get Mindright is described as one that wants to “make a product that was as nutritious as what existed in the marketplace.” Roberson was working on a project that was described as an “entirely new category of better-for-you snacks.” Dydrek has not yet responded to the lawsuit.ย
Dyrdek is known for his work on television as well as for owning multiple businesses and skateboarding. The 48-year-old recently went to Instagramย to reveal he tapes 336 episodes per year of the MTV series Ridiculousness. “We started shooting 336 episodes a year up from 252. Which is insane to think,” Dyrdek wrote in the Instagram post. “The crazy thing is we are shooting it in the same amount of days and in less time. We shoot 4 days a month for 5 hours, 10 months a year. We have an incredible team of people that operate this show at such an efficient level.”
