Lisa Vanderpump’s Dog Foundation Sued For Sexual Harassment
Jan. 29 2020, Updated 8:50 p.m. ET
Lisa Vanderpump is in the doghouse again!
A former employee of the Vanderpump Dog Foundation filed a lawsuit claiming she was forced to quit her job after higher-ups ignored her complaints of sexual harassment.
Damiana Guzman filed the lawsuit on January 24 in Los Angeles County Superior Court for “unlawful harassment based on sex, gender, and sexual orientation,” as well as “wrongful termination in violation of public policy by way of constructive discharge,” according to legal documents exclusively obtained by RadarOnline.com.
“Plaintiff worked for Defendant as a dog groomer for approximately two months until she was forced to resign in or about late July 2019 because of the intolerable working conditions created by her manager, Martin Duarte, and his superiors,” Guzman alleges in the court papers.
“Duarte engaged in a course and pattern of harassment based on Plaintiff’s sex, gender, and sexuality. Examples include the following: Duarte mocked Plaintiff by calling her things such as a ‘skinny no-a** fool,’ and a 'flat-a** b**ch.' He also told Plaintiff that he didn’t know how her girlfriend could stand to be with her because she had no a**,” the shocking documents claim.
Guzman also accuses the Vanderpump Dogs manager of taking swipes at her sexuality: “Further, Duarte, who was aware of Plaintiff’s sexual orientation, told her that he could turn her straight and that she had not found the right man on numerous occasions. He also claimed that he turned the mother of his child straight. Indeed, not a day went by where Duarte didn’t make a comment about Plaintiff’s body, her sexual preference, or his sexual prowess.”
Guzman informed Duarte’s bosses of the alleged comments, but "they failed to take any meaningful action, so Plaintiff had no choice but to resign," according to the lawsuit.
Guzman then filed a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).
“The DFEH immediately issued to Plaintiff a right to sue letter,” the documents read.
In the suit, Guzman claims she was, “subjected to offensive comments, criticism, lewd suggestions and remarks, requests for sexual favors, offensive sexual contact, and other abusive conduct based on her sex, gender, and sexual orientation that was severe or pervasive, altering the conditions of her employment. The conduct was unreasonably abusive and created an offensive and hostile work environment for Plaintiff and for any reasonable person in Plaintiff’s position.”
Guzman also says she's "suffered economic loss," as well as "humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional distress," as a result of the alleged harassment.
"As a result, Plaintiff has suffered such damages in an amount according to proof," the papers stated.
Guzman has demanded a jury trial and asked for unspecified damages.
RadarOnline.com readers know Vanderpump quit the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after puppygate, the scandal that erupted when Dorit Kemsley gave a dog she adopted from Vanderpump Dog to a friend after she claimed the pet “nipped” one of her children.
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The friend then gave the dog to a shelter, which contacted Vanderpump. The ladies on RHOBH accused her of leaking the story to RadarOnline.com, which she emphatically denied, even going so far as to take a lie detector test.
Desperate her declarations of innocence Vanderpump ended up quitting the show she had starred on for eight years. She remains on Vanderpump Rules.
