HBO Responds to Lawsuit, Says Winning Time’s Covid Advisor Removed Due to “Own Wrongdoing,” Not Because He Was a Whistleblower

HBO has responded to a former production health consultant who claims in a lawsuit that she was wrongfully fired in May after she spoke out about problems she experienced with the hired coronavirus testing provider.
during production and said she was the subject of complaints of serious misconduct from other employees.

The lawsuit filed by Georgia Hesse in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation, age harassment and intentional common law interference with contractual relationships. The 56-year-old plaintiff was the production health consultant for the second season of the hit HBO drama. Winning Era: The Rise of the Lakers Dynastyand was responsible for helping the show meet the health and safety requirements of the coronavirus, according to the lawsuit filed on Sept. 13.

“Hesse was on the front line to protect the crew from the global Covid pandemic,” says her suit.

But according to court documents filed Wednesday by HBO lawyers, Hesse was relieved of her post “for her own wrongdoing and for no other reason.”

According to the indictment, Hesse was informed that investigations into her past activities were being conducted Western worldAnother HBO series revealed it had communication problems, forbade people from talking to each other and was seen as favoring her son — a colleague on the show — as well as men over women in general, according to the lawsuit .

HBO management initially told Hesse that she would not be fired, which the plaintiff said was because the company knew it would retaliate against a whistleblower, the lawsuit said.

However, Hesse’s firing was confirmed when HBO stopped paying her and sent COBRA documents showing her employment ended the week of May 7, according to her filing.

But HBO lawyers name several employees in their court filings Western world accused Hesse of unspecified gross misconduct. HBO hired an independent law firm to investigate the complaints, and based on the company’s findings, it was determined that Hesse could not play an oversight role on HBO-related productions, according to the network’s court documents. The reasons for this finding were not given.

“In the end, Hesse was immediately relieved of her supervisory function win time just because of their past behavior Western world Demand that HBO act,” HBO’s lawyers wrote in their court filings.

According to her lawsuit, shortly after Hesse began working on “Winning Time,” she discovered that a coronavirus testing provider, CineMedic, allegedly defrauded HBO by charging for lab-based Covid tests while offering rapid tests that were substandard to application, the lawsuit states. . Hesse was told the test results were returned within 90 minutes, which she saw as a red flag that the tests were not done in the lab, the lawsuit says.

Crew members were falsely told they were receiving superior lab tests, the suit said. In addition, the company falsely claimed to HBO that it had an exemption for clinical laboratory improvements, the lawsuit states.

The CLIA defines optional tests as those categorized as simple laboratory tests and procedures that carry an insignificant risk of an erroneous result. However, the CLIA waiver number provided by CineMedics belonged to another company, the lawsuit states.

“The plaintiff is not aware at this time why producers and HBO chose a vendor who lied to them, defrauded them, falsified medical records and endangered the lives and safety of the cast and crew by overpriced, substandard to provide tests,” the package says.

Hesse “repeatedly exposed the CineMedics scam that put the health and safety of the crew at risk,” she claims.

Hesse was repeatedly told that executive producer Kevin Messick was the driving force behind hiring and retaining CineMedics, even though it was more expensive than its competitors, who offered better products and services, according to the indictment.

“In fact, CineMedics Hesse said she upset Messick when she tried to terminate his contract,” the lawsuit states.

In early May 2022, Hesse contacted the company that actually owns the CLIA and was informed by email from its representatives that the company was unaware of CineMedics and that the lawsuit did not allow the latter to challenge CineMedics’ waiver of use of the CLIA company not to reverse. award

Within 72 hours, HBO retaliated by firing Hesse, the lawsuit says.

The City News Service contributed to this report.