
A former stage manager for Jimmy Fallon — inherited from when Conan O’Brien hosted “Late Night” — has filed a complaint with the EEOC, accusing Fallon of sexual discrimination. And in a fun little twist, IT’S A DUDE!
Paul Tarascio of Oradell has filed the complaint with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and the New York Division of Human Rights. He claims he got demoted and then fired from his job on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” because, he was told, “Jimmy just prefers to take direction from a woman,” his lawyer tells us. The complaint also alleges that Fallon wanted only female technicians to place microphones on him, and only after a succession of women weren’t up to the task, he allowed a man, someone he’d worked with previously, to do the job. [nj.com]
THIS JUST IN: Jimmy Fallon prefers women to put sunscreen on him at the beach!
Actually, I spoke with someone familiar with the details of the situation, and Tarascio’s case looks pretty specious when you hear the details. Yes, what follows is actually genuine inside information. Woo-hoo! Suck it, journalists!
The details, as they were explained to me, are these:
Tarascio worked on “Late Night” under Conan O’Brien’s reign, and was popular with that crew. However, his personality never quite meshed with the Fallon gang, and even though he was freelance (and thus able to be terminated easily), NBC went through the due process of counseling him about his performance.
According to my source, Tarascio wasn’t demoted at all: he was moved from being front-of-house stage manager (giving Fallon cues) to back-of-house stage manager (cuing musical acts to go onstage). However, Tarascio took it as an insult, sulked about the move, and was eventually replaced by someone who filled in for him, and now everyone at “Late Night” is happier without him. Which isn’t to say he’s a bad guy; he just wasn’t a good fit in that environment.
The problem is that someone was stupid enough to actually tell Tarascio, “Jimmy would rather take cues from a woman.” Because, well, DUH. Not legal in the 21st century. However, the fact that this is an EEOC complaint and not a civil suit is a sign of how weak Tarascio’s case is. His best hope is that Fallon gives him a settlement to make this go away.
When confronted with news of the complaint, Fallon’s rep said “That would be a complete breaking of character for Jimmy.”
Get it? Fallon? Breaking character?
I don’t have to fucking impress you.
Fallon may not be gay, but he is guilty of making “Taxi”.
from the “I just took the bar exam” department: you have to file an EEOC complaint before you’re allowed to file a workplace discrimination suit. this is still a stupid case, mind you, but that’s just a process thing.
/shows self out
There’s always the Falon Gong…
From the “I’m not smart enough for law school” department, can we stop talking about Jimmy Fallon and focus a little more on Rachel McAdams? Jimmy’s not the only one here who isn’t gay…
Just saying that I bet a couple of readers here like girls.
@Magnolia – Excuse me but Danger Guerrero is our resident lawyer here. You are not a Spanish midget.
It’s not my area of law, but I’m pretty sure one has to go through the administrative process of filing an EEOC complaint before being able to file a suit.
magnolia beat me to the post by a bunch. That’s what I get for taking a shit while reading. A bunch of my friends just took the bar, what state were you in?
john grisham told me not to be a lawyer
and congrats to everyone who will find out in november that they failed the bar
The fact that it’s an EEOC claim says absolutely nothing about the strength of the case. You can file an EEOC claim and still opt to file a civil suit later. As DOM said above, depending on the nature of the claim, the EEOC complaint may be required in order to move on to civil litigation.
Me and my B+ in Employment Discrimination concur with all the legal advice in the comments regarding the EEOC stuff. I would have done it funnier and less douchey, though.
Nobody’s mentioned this yet, but you have to file an EEOC claim before you can file a civil suit.
Jimmy Fallon is still on the air?
P.S.
I’m no lawyer, but I’m pretty sure an EEOC claim has to come before a civil suit.
Ok, first of all, your source is making it sound like everyone at Fallon was happy to see Paul go, but that is absolutely not the case. There are quite a few there who support him and his suit and think he got a hell of a raw deal.
Second: in a post full of clueless, this one really takes the cake ‘The problem is that someone was stupid enough to actually tell Tarascio, “Jimmy would rather take cues from a woman.”’ Oh no, the problem isn’t that Paul was being discriminated against, the problem is that someone was just stupid enough to TELL him he was being discriminated against. Yeah, way to make your argument, dude.
Third: As others have pointed out, filing an EEOC complaint has no bearing on the relative strengths or weaknesses of his case, it’s simply a preliminary step.
And finally, just for the record, being moved from front of the house stage manager, otherwise known as 1st stage manager, to back of the house stage manager, or 2nd stage manager, is indeed a demotion. Does your “insider” even work in television?
If he wasn’t gay, he would be making every effort to check out Rachel’s gams.
What’s with all the lawyers on Warming Glow today? Shark week doesn’t start until Sunday.
*rimshot*
@Me
Cool story man, tell it to the barrrr exam.
*gasp* Well, sounds like “Me” is another insider! Who knew this blog was poopular with real TV people? I feel unclean now.
Between all the legally-astute posters and the TV insiders, someone should burn this blog to the ground. Even though the first thing we do is kill all the lawyers, the second thing we do is draw and quarter all the TV people.
And yes, me, the problem is that someone SAID that Fallon prefers to take his direction from a woman. That doesn’t mean it’s actually TRUE–it just opens up the opportunity for the claim of discrimination.
Yes, but can anyone tell me if one has to file an EEOC claim before you can file a civil suit?
I think this poor bastard is a little miffed that he didn’t follow Conan out to LA and get paid by NBC to get off the air.
In a side note, NBC should consider paying Jimmy Fallon to go away.
And when told by the wardrober that he rubbed his junk against Fallon’s tie every night before Fallon got dressed for the show, Fallon freaked. Homophobe!
“It’s not that I am gay, I just didn’t want to be sued for being sexist.”
….when caught by my wife with a male prostitute……
He Probably fired him because he didn’t want to bE turned on before going on nationaL tvl
If he is indeed gay. . . I’d like to meet him! Not to talk about myself too much, but I have green eyes, blonde hair, and I’m French. Jimmy call me! ;) hahaha.
bwahahahahaha, just listen to the guy talk. what a lisping poofer.