Bob Barker - Controversy

Controversy

In 1994, former model Dian Parkinson filed a lawsuit against Barker alleging sexual harassment following a three-year affair while working on The Price Is Right. Parkinson, who alleged that she was extorted by threats of firing, later dropped her lawsuit, claiming the stress from the ordeal was damaging her health.

In 1995, model Holly Hallstrom exited Price and later filed suit against Barker for wrongful termination and malicious persecution claiming Barker had launched a media attack against her, allegedly stating that she was disruptive to the working atmosphere of Price. Barker dropped his case, while Hallstrom did not, finally ending in settlement in 2005.

Following their testimonies in Barker's failed lawsuit against Hallstrom, models Janice Pennington and Kathleen Bradley were fired, and later received out-of-court financial settlements. Director Paul Alter was also removed from the show. Production assistants Sherrill Paris and Sharon Friem, who were also dismissed at the same time, each sued Barker for wrongful termination, as well as sexual harassment and sex discrimination. Both women ultimately received financial settlements.

In October 2007 Deborah Curling, a CBS employee assigned to The Price Is Right, filed a lawsuit against CBS, Bob Barker and The Price Is Right producers, claiming that she was forced to quit her job after testifying against Barker in a wrongful-termination lawsuit brought by a previous show producer. Curling claimed that she was demoted to an "intolerable work environment" backstage which caused her to leave the job. Curling, who is black, also alleged that the show's producers (including Barker) created a hostile work environment in which black employees and contestants were discriminated against. A few months later it was announced that Barker was removed from the lawsuit for the time being, but in September 2009 a judge tossed out the lawsuit. Curling's attorney stated that he plans to appeal the dismissal of the lawsuit.