World Wrestling Entertainment was issued a summons on 10/10 as a defendant in a sexual harassment lawsuit by former WWE Global Licensing Coordinator Fara D’Angelo.
D’Angelo, who worked for the company from April 2004 through May 2006, alleges in the suit she was sexual harassed by Alex Romer, Senior Director of International Consumer Products, who she worked closely with during her time in the company. D’Angelo’s complaint alleges that Romer almost immediately began harassing her and pursuing an intimate relationship with her, despite the fact he was married at the time, doing so in person, via late night phone calls and text messages. The complaint featured a long log of alleged actions by Romer, some listed by date.
D’Angelo’s complaint, filed on 10/8 in the United States District Court of Connecticut (New Haven) also alleges that Romer made one advance towards her before another WWE employee, who advised her to “switch jobs.” She also alleged that she attempted to seek help from WWE’s Senior Director of Quality Assurance, Mike Archer, who she claimed, “expressed concern and sympathy” but “he did not offer any help with the harassment she was reporting to him.” She alleged that Archer encouraged her to “look for a new job.”
D’Angelo alleged that she felt her job, not Romer’s would be “jeopardized” if she pushed the harassment issue and the harassment continued until May 2006, when she tendered her resignation, then “formally reported the sexual harassment she had been subjected to by Romer to Human Resources.”
D’Angelo’s suit seeks a judgment in her favor declaring that WWE had violated The Conneticut Human Rights Law “by discriminating and harassing Plaintiff based upon her sex”, back pay, benefits and front pay (i.e. the pay she would have theoretically received had she remained with the company), plus damages to be determined at trial.
The court issued a protective order for D’Angelo, ruled that all pleadings in the case be due by 12/8 and that Discovery in the suit be completed by 4/10/09.
Romer has since left World Wrestling Entertainment and is currently the Managing Director at Bright Licensing.
World Wrestling Entertainment has not responded to the suit in court as of this writing.