Lanisha Cole, a former model on “The Price is Right,” is suing the show’s producers for sexual harassment. Cole, who started her time as a model on the show in 2003, says that she was sexually harassed and wrongfully terminated by producers Michael Richards and Adam Sandler. (No, not that Michael Richards or that Adam Sandler.)
According to Yahoo, Cole’s 20-page civil complaint includes wrongful termination, sexual harassment, failure to prevent harassment, false imprisonment, and infliction of emotional distress.
Cole’s attorney, Solomon Gresen, said in a statement:
“This case is about senior-level men in the entertainment industry exploiting power and control over women by bullying and harassing female talent. Ms. Cole did nothing to provoke Richards and Sandler. Once the harassment began, she was powerless to stop it.”
Cole says that she enjoyed working on “The Price is Right” for several years, but everything changed in 2009 when Richards began implementing policies “that never existed before.” Cole says that Richards used the new policies to limit her time on TV as he began to favor another model.
Cole also points to an incident when Sandler charged into the women’s changing room to berate Cole while she was nearly naked.
Gresen said that “Sandler deliberately humiliated Ms. Cole in front of her peers,” while she was wearing “a very sheer thong bikini underwear bottom.”
Gresen said:
“All the women in the dressing room, including Ms. Cole, were frozen in shock until Sandler finished his tirade and stormed out of the women’s dressing room.”
Drew Carey, who took over “The Price is Right” hosting duties from Bob Barker in 2007, was not named, blamed, or accused of any wrongdoing in the lawsuit.
