Did Dr. Phil Take Hostages at Work? By Dan Atkerson on February 01, 2016

Director yelling at the assistantDr. Phil is no stranger to lawsuits being filed against him, but this new suit may just take the cake for most serious allegations. A former segment director recently filed a lawsuit against the world famous TV doctor and the CBS network in which she alleges a variety of offenses including workplace retaliation, wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation, as well as false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional stress.

According to the plaintiff, she was called in to work on her day off and sent into a room with 300 other employees where they were locked in and ordered by the famous doctor himself to turn off all cellphones. That is when Dr. Phil allegedly began a long, intimidating rant which included threats and scare tactics in an effort to discover who was responsible for a recent ‘leak’.

After the tirade, the plaintiff says she talked to human resources, telling them that she was nervous for her position that she had held for 10 years. She reportedly had made no other complaints for hostile work behavior in all that time. The plaintiff was soon fired after making the complaints and is adamant that she was wrongfully terminated in an act of workplace retaliation.

Other Lawsuits Filed Against Dr. Phil

Dr. Phil has been on the wrong end of multiple lawsuits, which have done relatively little to stop him from becoming one of the most popular and talked about daytime TV hosts in recent memory.

For someone who supposedly helps people to become more emotionally stable, these past lawsuits seem to depict a man who repeatedly finds himself inflicting serious emotional distress on a number of people.

Here are some of the other lawsuits that have been filed against Dr. Phil:

  • 2003 – The doctor allegedly made false claims about a controversial weight loss pill, was sued, and reached a $10.5 million settlement with the plaintiffs.
  • 2005 – He was sued for defamation, invasion of privacy and inflicting emotional distress after allegedly altering a taped interview to seemingly implicate two brothers in the disappearance if a teen girl.
  • 2011 – Two women sued Dr. Phil for emotional stress in relation to their participation in a 2007 taping of “The Dr. Phil House,” where the women claim that the doctor made them feel “violated and disgusted” after sending a nudist into the house and allegedly touching one woman’s breasts.
These are just three of the many lawsuits filed against the good doctor since the early 2000’s.

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Dan Atkerson

Law Offices of Dan A. Atkerson

Dan A. Atkerson has been protecting the rights of North Texas employees for over nearly four decades. He is affiliated with several prestigious legal organizations, including: 

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Through aggressive, knowledgeable representation, he has helped clients all over the state reach significant verdicts and settlements. To schedule a consultation at our law firm, request an appointment online or call us at (214) 383-3606.

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