Many Colorado readers may be familiar with or have watched “The Price is Right” on television. Brandi Cochran, a former model of the show, claims that show producers subjected her to employment discrimination after she had become pregnant. After some tumultuous litigation, a settlement was finally reached for her case.
According to the complaint, Cochran started with the show in 2002 and always had her performance referenced in a positive light. In 2008, she became pregnant with twins and alerted the producers to her condition. She claims that after the producers found out, they began to her give her disparate treatment.
The producers purportedly made negative comments about Cochran’s weight and her eating patterns. Additionally, she claims that she was no longer featured on the show website. Sadly, Cochran lost one of her babies and prematurely had the other. When she tried to return to work, she maintains that the show’s former producer told her she was no longer needed. Cochran argues that if she had not become pregnant, she would still be on the show.
Cochran filed an employment discrimination claim and initially was awarded $8.5 million by a jury, but it was later overturned. Now that her case has been settled for an undisclosed amount, her case cannot be tried again. Producers for the show claim that they had a sufficient pool of five models who worked on the show at the time and the plaintiff’s claims were baseless. Women in Colorado who feel that they have been victimized because they are pregnant may turn to the legal system for help. Based upon evidence of the discrimination, they may be awarded lost wages and other monetary damages and even be reinstated into their former positions, if applicable.
Source: Hollywood, CA. Patch, “Former ‘Price Is Right’ Model Settles Lawsuit Out-of-Court“, Bea Karnes, March 2, 2016