Bravo insists First Amendment shields network from former ‘Housewives’ star’s toxic workplace suit

MANHATTAN (CN) — The cable network Bravo urged a New York federal judge on Thursday to broadly apply the First Amendment as he weighs dismissal of a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by one of the former stars of the “Real Housewives of New York” hit reality series, Leah McSweeney.

At Thursday’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman said he’s never watched the show, and asked the parties to let him know if he should watch some episodes as the case proceeds.

Former “Real Housewives” cast member McSweeney sued Bravo Media, NBCUniversal Media, and executive producer Andy Cohen in February, accusing the Bravo’s producers of “guerilla-type psychological warfare,” including pressure to drink that fueled her to relapse into alcoholism — and then bad-mouthing her performance on the reality as “boring” when she got sober.

While Liman did not rule from the bench on Bravo’s motion to dismiss McSweeney’s suit on Thursday, he briefly pondered whether or not applying the anti-discrimination protections of the Americans With Disabilities Act might spell a potential “death knell” for the unscripted, reality television program.

“Isn’t there a First Amendment protection even if that message is odious for someone to want to convey it?” the Trump-appointed judge asked.

During oral arguments on Thursday afternoon, Bravo’s Los Angeles-based attorney Adam Levin repeatedly said that McSweeney’s discrimination claims were “wrecked on the shoals of the First Amendment.”

Levin also argued that there are no grounds for McSweeney’s retaliation claims because there was no adverse employment action taken by the network. “She wasn’t denied a job — she wasn’t fired from a job,” he said.

The network further argued in their motion to dismiss that McSweeney’s religion-based claims are only supported by a single incident: that they failed to provide a kosher option at one meal.

McSweeney’s attorney Sarah Matz, from Adelman Matz, said the producers of “Real Housewives” are “in the business of making a profit from watching people crumble.”

“Preying on people who have disabilities…just for the sake of making a profit,” is not protected speech, she argued.

Matz argued the discrimination and retaliation consisted of actions and behavior beyond speech anyway.

“We’re not actually talking about speech, we’re talking about conduct,” she said.

McSweeney attended the oral arguments on Thursday, and sported a fashionably oversized, dark pantsuit in court.

Prior to joining the Real Housewives, McSweeney says she had been sober for approximately nine years. She relapsed five months before signing a contract with Bravo Media to join the show in 2019, but regained her sobriety by the time she began filming for the show’s 12th season — and told the producers both about the relapse and that she wanted to remain sober while filming.

Instead of honoring the agreement, McSweeney says, the producers developed an “artificially close” relationship with her to suss out scenarios that may induce another relapse.

On Thursday, Liman asked both sides to address McSweeney’s claims that Bravo refused grant reasonable accommodations for her to attend Alcoholics Anonymous or go to rehabs while she was shooting the show.

McSweeney argued in her complaint that Bravo’s refusal to accommodate her mental health conditions resulted in her hospitalization for suicidal and self-harm ideations after filming wrapped for the 13th season.

McSweeney says she was later offered a role on another Real Housewives spin-off series but the network dropped her in retaliation for filing a formal complaint of discrimination to human resources.

In May, Bravo and Cohen asked Liman to toss out McSweeney’s claims that she had faced gender, religious and disability discrimination in a “hostile work environment” during her time on the Real Housewives franchise.

McSweeney’s civil case against Bravo and Cohen in the Southern District of New York is one of several complaints from former cast members of the hit reality television franchise who say producers created an unsafe work environment by plying them with booze.

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