Two former employees have sued Paramount Pictures Corporation, Paramount Global for allegedly ignoring sexual harassment and assault by their supervisor, the company’s ex-SVP Patrick Smith.
In the legal documents, obtained by TheWrap, which were both filed this month in Los Angeles Superior Court, two women who have listed themselves as Jane Doe accused the studio fostering a code of silence by enabling sexual misconduct from Smith. The pair both claim they experienced sexual harassment and negligence by the company.
Jane Doe 1, who filed her lawsuit on July 9, states that she started working at Paramount in 2017 where she reported directly to Smith. In 2019, she says she transferred to XYi Design — a vendor Paramount sourced through for marketing and design services — but remained under Smith’s management.
Jane Doe 1 says she was “bombarded” by Smith with “sexual compliments, comments and advances,” adding that he was “verbally caustic, emotionally abusive, sexually predatory, aggressive and highly vindictive and did so all under the guise and promise of promotions and prospective business opportunities.”
“Smith subjected Plaintiff Doe to his intrusive and unwelcome gaze, leering at her body and making inappropriate sexual remarks about her figure,” the lawsuit states.
The document goes on to list various text messages, Smith allegedly sent Jane Doe 1.
Some of the examples include him allegedly texting that he won’t listen to her “unless you are swallowing my c—m” and telling her that he will “eat” her up “all my anger just on you.” In one of the text messages she accuses Smith of telling her he loves her and that she is “special.” In addition, she accuses Smith of sending videos of sex positions and asking her to try them.
In Jane Doe 2’s lawsuit, which was filed on July 14, she alleges sexual harassment, retaliation, failure to prevent harassment, negligent hiring, supervision and retention and wrongful termination, among other accusations. Jane Doe 2 worked at Paramount in production and other creative roles, and noted that during her time at the company she experienced a “pattern of possessive and intimidating behavior” by Smith.
She claims that with every attempt to attend various award shows or industry events, Smith would “intrusively harass her about her attire” and instructed that he be shown her outfits prior to arriving any events.
One of the instances of assault Jane Doe 2 mentions took place during the evening of November 2016. Following a late business meeting with a vendor Smith accompanied her to, he offered to drive her back to her vehicle, which was parked near the Paramount office. But instead of dropping her off, Jane Doe 2 claims Smith locked the doors, grabbed her without warning and forcefully put his mouth on hers. She states that she froze in panic while he continued to assault her, shoving his hand between her legs and penetrating her vagina without her consent. She states that she feared that if she resisted Smith, it would only make matters worse.
“She knew that Smith held power over her job, reputation and her future. She had seen him ruin others before by spreading lies, trashing names and destroying careers. In that moment, she felt completely powerless, believing that speaking up or fighting back would cost her everything.” A month after the incident in December 2016, Jane Doe 2 said she was hired on as a manager at Paramount, “a move that seemed to confirm [Smith’s] influence and power he held over her professional future.”
Like Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2 states Smith made several sexual advances, including “I want to f—k you so badly,” “You’d be great in bed,” and inviting her to his office to speak “privately.” The legal documents states that the inappropriate behavior was acted out in the form of text messages and emails, and noted that he bragged about his power to “make or break” people’s careers. She accuses Paramount executives of allegedly ignoring complaints and protecting Smith despite previous reports on his behavior.
Jane Doe 1 requests compensatory damages for economic loss, emotional distress and professional harm, punitive damages for egregious conduct and financial coverage of attorney’s fees and legal costs.
Jane Doe 2 is seeking general and special damages due to alleged emotional distress, lost wages and loss of future earnings. She also requests punitive damages for willful and malicious conduct and financial coverage of attorney’s fees and costs and civil penalties under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
“Paramount protected predator Vice President Patrick Smith as he hunted and preyed upon young staff he made work ‘under’ him,” their attorney Chip Matthews shared in a statement to TheWrap. “Paramount not only turned a blind eye in fostering a ‘code of silence’ by allowing sexual misconduct, assaults and harassment to exist in the workplace, but it punished those who dared to speak up by the head of HR calling Patrick Smith and telling him exactly who was complaining and what they said. Patrick Smith bragged about this. Because of this, the harassment and sexual assaults continued for years. It took significant courage for these two young women to stand up to this bully, we hope Paramount will demonstrate equal courage by fostering a work environment where women are praised for their abilities not their bodies.”
