Who is Gregory St Johns? 'Criminal Minds’ producers reach $3M settlement in sexual harassment case
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued the producers and studios behind the longest-running CBS network drama, 'Criminal Minds'. Now, Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC Signature has agreed to pay $3M to settle the lawsuit that alleged sexual harassment and retaliation on the set of the CBS police drama. The lawsuit claimed that over the span of 14 years, director of photography Gregory St Johns "used his position of power to create an unchecked hostile work environment in which he subjected production crew members to frequent sexual harassment, including touching and caressing numerous employees."
The California Civil Rights Department (CRD)'s director Kevin Kish issued a statement on Monday, December 19, "Crew members courageously came forward to assert their right to make a living free from sexual harassment. No matter the industry, workplace setting, or gender of the employees, companies must address credible complaints of harassment and retaliation and take action against harassers." After investigating the matter, CRD alleged that for 14 seasons of the program, St Johns subjected male crew members to sexual harassment, including unwanted touching and caressing, and made unwelcome and threatening comments. The suit further blamed the production house for ignoring harassment on set and for firing crew members for complaining about the harassment, as per The News & Observer.
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Who is Gregory St Johns?
St Johns, a director of photography in Hollywood, is primarily known for hit projects including 'Dante's Peak' (1997), 'Breakdown' (1997) and one of CBS' most profitable shows 'Criminal Minds' (2005). After a successful run with CBS, he was removed in 2018 only to be involved in a lawsuit two years later. The lawsuit filed also claimed that St Johns "doted on certain men and treated them more favorably, provided they acquiesced to his attention. To those who resisted, he retaliated in common patterns, including the silent treatment, social ostracism, unfair criticism, public shaming, and ultimately termination."
It was further reported that the executive production team showrunner Erica Messer, executive producers Harry Bring and John Breen Frazier, director Glenn Kershaw and unit production manager Stacey Beneville, were also aware of St Johns' proclivities but ignored it, and kept firing any men who came forward with a complaint about his behavior. In the statement issued by CRD, they wrote, "Pursuant to a three-year consent decree resolving this case, ABC Signature will pay $3 million for a class of approximately twelve individuals, revise and distribute policies to all shows produced by ABC Signature, train production and human resources employees, meet regularly with production supervisors and HR to ensure there are no unaddressed complaints of harassment/retaliation on set, and report on compliance annually to CRD."