Jan 8 2025
Josh Goodbaum: Hi, Amanda.
Amanda DeMatteis: Hi, Josh. What are we talking about today?
Goodbaum: Well, we have another exciting intersection between celebrity news and employment law, and that, of course, is the story about Blake Lively’s sexual harassment complaint against Justin Baldoni and the production company on her big movie. I know you follow this stuff more than I do, so that’s about all I know. Tell me – what do I need to know about this Blake Lively situation, and most importantly for the folks watching, what can non-famous employees learn from how Blake Lively has handled the sexual harassment and retaliation that she allegedly experienced?
DeMatteis: Yeah, I do love some A-list celebrity gossip, but this actually is really serious stuff, of course, which I’m very passionate about, given what we do.
Blake Lively filed an 81-page complaint against her “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni, his production company, and a slew of others, all of whom have denied the allegations that Blake has raised. She brought claims about things that we discuss all the time, Josh – sexual harassment, retaliation, failure to investigate, aiding and abetting, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and more. And these are all claims, Josh, that we’ve spoken about previously and that Connecticut employees have a right to be free from under either state or federal law.
These issues that Blake allegedly had at work are very, very similar to issues that we’ve seen women and men in Connecticut suffering from. So, what are the allegations that support these claims that Blake has brought? Really disturbing things in any workplace: showing nude videos or images of women; mention of Mr. Baldoni’s and others’ pornography addictions; mention to Blake Lively and her employees of personal times that physical consent was not given in various sexual acts that people participated in; descriptions of genitalia; inquiries by Mr. Baldoni of Blake’s weight; and, of course, adding sex scenes, oral sex, or on-camera climaxing by Blake Lively outside of the scope of the script that she approved when signing onto this project.
These are all allegations which support classic sexual harassment. Remember: sexual harassment is any unwelcome or unwanted sexual advance, sexual touching, sexual jokes. Anything that makes you feel uncomfortable in your place of employment falls within the purview of sexual harassment if it is of a sexual nature.
Blake Lively is taking a stand against this illegal behavior in the workplace, just like we see so many Connecticut women doing all the time. So, this is an excellent reminder that, if you’re experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace – whether it’s a neighborhood restaurant, a hospital, an office setting, a construction site, or on the set of a major motion picture with Hollywood A-listers – sexual harassment is not OK. It’s illegal, and you have rights both here in Connecticut and everywhere else in this country.
Goodbaum: Thanks for connecting up this really hot celebrity news, Amanda, with what we do every day and, most importantly, with what Connecticut employees need to know about their rights to be free from sexual harassment in the workplace.
Thank you all so much for watching. We’ll see you next time.
Posted by Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C. in Commentary
Tagged Amanda DeMatteis, Joshua Goodbaum