Summary: Celebrity therapist Dr. Phil McGraw is being accused of false imprisonment of his staff.
Is locking your frightened employees in a room a new form of therapy? Just ask Dr. Phil McGraw. In an alleged bizarre encounter fit for TV, a former employee claims she was called in on her day off, only to be held hostage by the TV doctor. Now she’s suing him, the “Dr. Phil” show, and CBS for what she described as a humiliating staff ordeal.
Former show staffer Leah Rothman filed a suit claiming McGraw, 65, summoned her and 300 other people into an office, locked the door and then berated them. TMZ reports that he was angry that someone had been leaking information about the show to the media.
Rothman is claiming false imprisonment and verbal assault. She alleges that while stuck in the room, McGraw said he contacted authorities and threatened them. “If you f-ck with me, I’ll f-ck with you,” the lawsuit claims he said.
Even more bizarre, Rothman said McGraw used cue cards to jog his memory of the terrible things he wanted to say to them.
Rothman also claims that McGraw and upper management already knew who the mole was, but that they wanted to scare the employees by sending a message. Rothman said McGraw “got joy” scaring his employees.
After the meeting, Rothman was distressed and quit her job.
Dr. Phil’s television show debuted in 2002. The Richest estimates the celebrity psychologist has a net worth of $335 million dollars. Below is a video of him giving advice on how to fight bullies.
Source: TMZ
Screenshot from the ‘Dr. Phil’ show’s YouTube channel