‘Doctor Odyssey' Crewmembers Sue Disney for Alleged Sexual Harassment on Set, ‘Blacklisting' Them After Filing Complaint
Three former crewmembers on the ABC medical series 'Doctor Odyssey' are suing 20th Century and its parent company Disney for allegedly enabling an 'unchecked campaign of sexual harassment for months' on the set of the series.
In the suit, filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, plaintiffs Caroline Mack, Alicia Haverland and Ava Steinbrenner claim that Tyler Patton, the assistant prop master on 'Doctor Odyssey,' would subject the three to 'sexual jokes, innuendos, comments, sexual gestures and images' as well as 'unwanted touching,' such as 'openly grabbing a visiting female employee's buttocks.'
More from Variety
With Disney's New 'Lilo & Stitch' in Theaters, Here's How to Get the Original Animated Film on DVD/4K Ultra HD
'The Devil Wears Prada' Sequel Set for May 2026; Ridley Scott's 'The Dog Stars' Dated for March
Justin Connolly, After Exiting Disney, Joins YouTube as Global Head of Media and Sports; Disney Sues Over Exec's Hiring
In one account contained in the suit, Patton allegedly sent prop department employees a story appearing to reference news that President Biden had dropped out of the 2024 election. But the link redirected to a picture of a naked male with an erect penis. Other comments allegedly made by Patton include calling one of the plaintiffs a 'chick' and saying 'come over here and open your mouth, here's the worm.'
The lead prop master on 'Doctor Odyssey' was Tammie Patton, Tyler's wife. The suit claims that Tammie and Disney hired Tyler with 'knowledge that prior allegations of sexual harassment had been lodged' against him. Patton was previously named in a 2010 lawsuit against Universal Network Television, which claimed advanced sexual harassment and retaliation allegations on the set of 'House.' In that complaint, ex-employee Carl Jones alleged that Patton groped his genitals and made sexual propositions to female co-workers.
The 'Doctor Odyssey' suit also claims that Patton's harassment would occur 'daily and frequently in the presence of management.' During one confrontation, Patton allegedly exclaimed, 'If I wasn't fucking the boss, I'd be fired.'
Patton was terminated after plaintiffs reported his behavior to human resources, according to the complaint. Shortly after, Tammie Patton allegedly 'began to engage in retaliatory behavior,' including threatening their employment. The entire props department was later laid off, though Disney 'then almost immediately hired a whole new set of employees,' the suit states.
The suit argues that 'Defendants wiped the Prop Department's slate clean to avoid having to deal with any remaining 27 employee-relations issues tied to Tyler Patton's and Tammie Patton's misconduct.' The plaintiffs also claim that they have been 'blacklisted' by Disney 'in retaliation for bringing forward their good-faith complaints.'
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'Doctor Odyssey' has not yet been renewed for a second season. It is now the only scripted series at ABC with an undetermined future.
Best of Variety
What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025
New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
23 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
‘Predator: Badlands' Joins Disney's San Diego Comic-Con Plans
The hunt will be on at San Diego Comic-Con, where Predator: Badlands will get the spotlight. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the sci-fi film will get a Hall H panel during the convention weekend. It'll be the second big Disney movie of the fall season to make an appearance at the famed Hall, joining October's Tron: Ares. Both films will fill in for a lack of Marvel at this year's convention, and it'll be the Predator franchise's first theatrical movie to hit SDCC since Shane Black's 2018 reboot. (Prey, which premiered at SDCC 2022, sadly never got a theatrical release.) Like with Tron, Predator: Badlands hasn't had much marketing since its initial trailer and poster. The Hall H panel will hopefully feature a new trailer for the film, which centers on Dak (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young Yautja outcast teaming with the android Thia (Elle Fanning) to get back in his clan's good graces by hunting a worthy enemy. Prey director Dan Trachtenberg is back behind the camera for this one, and unlike Prey and this year's Killers of Killers, you'll be able to see Badlands on the big screen. San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 24-27, and Predator: Badlands hits theaters on November 7. While we wait for more info about it, might as well rewatch Prey or Killer of Killers over on Hulu. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Politico
27 minutes ago
- Politico
Democrats will force out-loud reading of 940-page megabill
Senate Republicans released updated megabill text late Friday that would make sharp cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act's solar and wind tax credits after a late-stage push by President Donald Trump to crack down further on the incentives. The text would require solar and wind generation projects seeking to qualify for the law's clean electricity production and investment tax credits to be placed in service by the end of 2027 — significantly more restrictive than an earlier proposal by the Senate Finance Committee that tied eligibility to when a project begins construction. The changes came after Trump urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune to crack down on the wind and solar credits and align the measure more closely with reconciliation text, H.R.1, that passed the House, as POLITICO reported earlier on Friday. The changes are likely to put some moderate GOP senators, who have backed a slower schedule for sunsetting those incentives, in a tough position. They'll be forced to choose between rejecting Trump's agenda or allowing the gutting of tax credits that could lead to canceled projects and job losses in their states — something renewable energy advocates are also warning about. 'We are literally going to have not enough electricity because Trump is killing solar. It's that serious,' Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) responded on X early Saturday. 'We need a bunch of new power on the grid, and nothing is as available as solar. Everything else takes a while. Meantime, expect shortages and high prices. Stupid.' The revised text would retain the investment and production tax credits for baseload sources, such as nuclear, geothermal, hydropower or energy storage, as proposed in the Finance Committee's earlier proposal. But it would make other significant changes, including extending a tax credit for clean hydrogen production until 2028. The panel's earlier proposal would have eliminated the credit after this year. And despite vocal lobbying by the solar industry, the proposal would maintain an abrupt cut to the tax incentive supporting residential solar power. The committee's earlier proposal would have eliminated that credit six months after the enactment of the bill; now the updated draft proposes repealing it at the end of this year. It would also deny certain wind and solar leasing arrangements from accessing the climate law's clean electricity investment and production tax credits, but, in a notable change, removed earlier language specifically disallowing rooftop solar. And it would move up the timeline for certain rules barring foreign entities of concern from accessing those credits. The bill would move up the termination date for electric vehicle tax credits to Sept. 30, compared to six months after enactment in the earlier Finance text. The credit for EV chargers would extend through June 2026. The new text also provides a bonus incentive for advanced nuclear facilities built in communities with high levels of employment in the nuclear industry. And the bill makes metallurgical coal eligible for the advanced manufacturing production tax credit through 2029. Sam Ricketts, co-founder of S2 Strategies, a clean energy policy consulting group, said the new draft is going to 'screw' ratepayers, kill jobs and undermine U.S. economic competitiveness. 'All just to give fossil fuel executives more profits,' he said. 'Or to own the libs. Insanity.' Josh Siegel contributed to this report.
Chicago Tribune
29 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Biden, Harris and Walz attend funeral for former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman
MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman was honored for her legislative accomplishments and her humanity during a funeral Saturday where former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the over 1,000 mourners. Hortman was shot to death in a pair of attacks two weeks earlier by a man posing as a police officer that Minnesota's chief federal prosecutor has called an assassination. The shootings also left her husband, Mark, dead and a state senator and his wife seriously wounded. 'Melissa Hortman will be remembered as the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history. I get to remember her as a close friend, a mentor, and the most talented legislator I have ever known,' Gov. Tim Walz said in his eulogy. 'For seven years, I have had the privilege of signing her agenda into law. I know millions of Minnesotans get to live their lives better because she and Mark chose public service and politics.' Neither Biden nor Harris spoke, but they said in the front row with the governor, who was Harris' running mate in 2024. Biden was also one of more than 7,500 people who paid their respects Friday as Hortman, her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert, lay in state in the Minnesota Capitol rotunda in St. Paul. Gilbert was seriously wounded in the attack and had to be euthanized. Biden also visited the wounded senator in a hospital. Dozens of current and former state legislators from both parties and other elected officials who worked with Hortman also attended. Hortman, who was first elected in 2004, helped pass an expansive agenda of liberal initiatives like free lunches for public school students during the momentous 2023 session as the chamber's speaker, along with expanded protections for abortion and trans rights. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she yielded the gavel to a Republican under a power-sharing deal, took the title speaker emerita, and helped break a budget impasse that threatened to shut down state government. Walz said Hortman saw her mission as 'to get as much good done for as many people as possible.' And he said her focus on people was what made her so effective. 'She certainly knew how to get her way. No doubt about that,' Walz said. 'But she never made anyone feel that they'd gotten rolled at a negotiating table. That wasn't part of it for her, or a part of who she was. She didn't need somebody else to lose to win for her.' The governor said the best way to honor the Hortmans would be by following their example. 'Maybe it is this moment where each of us can examine the way we work together, the way we talk about each other, the way we fight for things we care about,' Walz said. 'A moment when each of us can recommit to engaging in politics and life the way Mark and Melissa did — fiercely, enthusiastically, heartily, but without ever losing sight of our common humanity.' The Rev. Daniel Griffith, pastor and rector of the Basilica, who led the service, said the country is in need of deep healing. He said it seems as if the U.S. is living in the 'dystopian reality' described at the beginning of William Butler Yeats' poem, 'The Second Coming.' 'Here in Minnesota, we have been the ground zero place, sadly, for racial injustice,' Griffith said. 'The killing of George Floyd just miles from our church today. And now we are the ground zero place for political violence and extremism. Both of these must be decried in the strongest possible terms, as they are, respectively, a threat to human dignity and indeed, our democracy.' But the priest also said Minnesota could also be 'a ground zero place for restoration and justice and healing.' He added that the presence of so many people was a sign that that work can succeed. Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese offered his condolences to the Hortman family. A private burial will be held at a later date. The Hortmans were proud of their adult children, Sophie and Colin Hortman, and the lawmaker often spoke of them. In a voice choked with emotion, Colin said his parents embodied the Golden Rule, and he read the Prayer of St. Francis, which his mother always kept in her wallet. He said it captures her essence. It starts, 'Lord make me an instrument of your peace.' After the service, Walz presented the children with U.S. and Minnesota flags that flew over the Capitol on the day their parents were killed. The man accused of killing the Hortmans at their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park on June 14, and wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in nearby Champlin, made a brief court appearance Friday. He's due back in court Thursday. Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities called the largest search in Minnesota history. Boelter remains jailed and has not entered a plea. Prosecutors need to secure a grand jury indictment first. His lawyers have declined to comment on the charges, which could carry the federal death penalty. Friends have described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views. But prosecutors have declined so far to speculate on a motive.
