Did Dr. Phil Hold His Staff Hostage? Former Employee Accuses TV Doc Of False Imprisonment And Wrongful Termination

As if his list of legal problems is not long enough, Dr. Phil McGraw is facing another round of lawsuits, only this time from a former employee. McGraw is now being accused of false imprisonment and wrongful termination after the TV personality allegedly locked employees in a staff room and refused to let them leave.

According to the New York Daily News, Leah Rothman, who used to work as a segment director on Dr. Phil for over 10 years, recently filed a suit against her former employer. In the official court documents, Rothman stated that the incident involved some 300 employees and occurred this past March.

Apparently, McGraw called in his employees to work on a day off and marched them into a room. After demanding that they turn off their cell phones, Dr. Phil, who was supported by his team of security officers, then went into an epic tirade about a recent segment leak.

“If you f**k with me, I’ll f**k with you,” McGraw yelled at the staff.

As if messing with his employee’s emotions wasn’t enough, Rothman stated that Dr. Phil was aware which staff member had broken his trust. The impromptu meeting was just a tactic to keep everyone else in line.

During the dreadful meeting, McGraw read from a series of notecards he had written prior to the meeting, a key point that Rothman says indicates that he had planned the entire ordeal well ahead of time. Furthermore, Rothman claims that McGraw took great pleasure in berating his own employees.

Meanwhile, People is reporting that Rothman tried to get help following the meeting. She even went to human resources to seek a solution to the matter and get McGraw to answer for his actions. However, the executive of human resources stated that she could not coordinate further meetings with Rothman, while Rothman claims that human resources failed to contact her.

With human resources not providing her with an adequate response, Rothman decided to quit her job. Now, almost a year after the event happened, Rothman filed a case against McGraw for false imprisonment, wrongful termination, and emotional distress.

Whether or not Rothman has any evidence to back up her claims is yet to be seen. Given McGraw’s past history with the legal system, he definitely has the advantage of experience in this one.

In fact, according to the Daily Beast, this is not the first time McGraw has faced legal action. Back in 2005, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe sued McGraw for invasion of privacy, emotional distress, and defamation after their appearance on Dr. Phil. The two brothers were thought to be involved with the kidnapping of Natalee Holloway at the time and claimed that the show had edited their interview to make it appear as if they had a part in Holloway’s disappearance.

Although the case was eventually dropped, McGraw found himself in court once again in 2011. This time, McGraw was accused of inappropriately touching one female participant while using questionable therapy tactics with another. The two parties ended up settling for a large sum of money out of court.

This is really only a small sample of the court cases that have been filed against McGraw. In fact, the TV host was sued in 2003 over his weight-loss scam and forced to pay $10.5 million in damages. He has also been dragged to court by a number of participants on his show, including the parents of a teenage girl who claimed that McGraw had exploited her in order to drive up ratings.

At this time, McGraw has not released an official statement regarding his lawsuit with Rothman.

Tell us! Do you think there is any truth to the allegations against Dr. Phil? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

[Image via Harpo Productions]