Sexual assault and harassment lawsuit against APA dismissed by arbitration

A 2019 sexual assault and harassment lawsuit filed by a former APA employee against CEO Jim Gosnell, two other agency employees and a former manager at Collin Avenue Production Company has been dismissed.

The case was resolved in arbitration after the case was referred to it by an LA Superior Court judge. The layoff did not include any severance pay and was “substantial,” according to a public statement agreed to by all parties.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2019, alleged that the APA had created a “toxic” workplace. The prosecutor, referred to in the complaint only as “Jane Doe,” cited a series of explicit text messages and emails. The idea that employees “felt brave enough to put their misconduct on paper reflects how toxic, permissive and protective the APA culture is of sexual and racial discrimination,” the lawsuit says. Gosnell was accused of swearing at her, using profanity, throwing office objects at her and obstructing her advancement from assistant rank to agent.

Doe also alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Michael Hammond, the former COO at Collin Avenue Productions, an APA client whose credits include reality shows such as Dancing moms. (The company was acquired by Asylum’s The Content Group in 2020.)

In July 2019, the APA asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to refer the complaint to arbitration, calling it a “continuing brazen attempt to extort and destroy the company”. The agency described it as a “frivolous” lawsuit in retaliation for the employee’s “termination.”

According to the public statement released last week, the dismissal of the lawsuit came after a closer look at the texts and emails cited as evidence.

“During the arbitration between the parties, the arbitrator ordered that an independent investigator be retained to analyze the authenticity of certain text messages and e-mail messages that Jane Doe claims were exchanged between her and the other parties for purposes of her assistance, allegations are exchanged,” the statement read. . “Following the preliminary findings of the investigation, Jane Doe voluntarily dismissed the claims against APA, Gosnell, Santana, Humiston and Hammond without payment on the merits.”