TapouT Lawsuit: Ex-Model Michelle Thomas Claims SoCal Mixed Martial Arts Company Forced Workers To Watch TV

By Dennis Romero Wed., Jan. 19 2011 at 2:15 PM

TapouT's Punkass and Skyskrape.

Grab your tissue box, folks, because this is one hell of a tear-jerker. Okay, ready? Here we go: Michelle Thomas, a 32-year-old ometime model who worked for the mixed-martial-arts clothing and lifestyle company TapouT says in a lawsuit that her bosses actually made her watch television on her own time.

Say what? For real, yo. Say what you will about child labor in China or sweatshops in Mexico, but when it comes down to it America has a worker exploitation problem that we all must own up to.

Television on your own time? That's a crime. And so ...

... Thomas claims that the company required workers to watch its eponymous reality show on Versus as well as Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts on Pay Per View on their own time -- and on their own dime.

Despicable.

The woman from San Pedro worked at the company for eight months in sales and filed her wrongful termination suit in 2008, but it's just now being heard before a jury this week.

"We'd also be tested on these shows,'' Thomas testified. "I'd be verbally yelled at if I didn't watch them.''

Dickensian.

The meat of her suit alleges overtime pay that was denied as well as unpaid commission. She said she got a base salary of $30,000 but was "promised $70,000 a year."

(We're guessing that's contingent on actually making sales).

Thomas said she was fired after complaining about her long work hours. Of course, there's another side to this coin.

TapouT attorney Gail F. Montgomery says Thomas was filed for insubordination and yelling in the office.

We once interviewed the founders of TapouT and they were actually really nice guys. Wanna guess which way we think this case is going to go?

-With reporting from City News Service. Got news? Email us. Follow us on Twitter, too: @dennisjromero.

Tags:

labor, lawsuit, Michelle Thomas, MMA, TapouT, UFC, workers

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robertdavidstrong

This was a really interesting story- I think the lawyer was up to something!

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lolana

Guess you were wrong!

Jtsupreme1

you are all wrong!!! This is a sleezy woman that found an even more sleezy lawyer.... she barely put in any time with the company and turned around like a sleey person does and sues.....Tapout didnt pay a dime!!! I understand that they have an insurer and it was covered. But Thomas didnt get anywhere near the 840k after the lawyer took his fees....its the way it works in the legal system sadly

Cindi

No, YOU'RE wrong. Carney Shegerian is one of the classiest lawyers I've ever met. I was on a jury last March and we found for his client, who got thoroughly screwed over by employers who paid her disgustingly low wages for 18 years and then fired her while she was on disability. She won on every single question because she deserved it and had been put through hell by these folks while she was dealing with serious health issues.Then after the case was over we were allowed to read the press on this company, Social Vocational Services, and found that this supposedly nonprofit company was paying its married directors more than any other nonprofit heads !!! in the entire country!! They were hugely wealthy!!! (LA Times article) While paying starvation wages to its employees, of course. Watching Mr. Shegerian and his associates argue this case was one of the most eye-opening and inspiring things that has happened to me in a long time. It made me realize that the court system does help people who have been wronged. If you had any idea the number of hours it takes to investigate and pursue one of these cases, you might have an idea of how without expert legal help a regular person has no way of going up against an employer who's done you wrong. Employees have virtually NO power and those men and women earn that money and help people. I had to take vacation days to do that jury duty, but I was really glad I did. Working in radio news for the past two decades has really dashed any illusions I had about the world and even about the news business which is heavily censored. Not only is important news not getting reported, but power has swinging away from regular people at a fast clip this decade. It's really not pretty. You might need a law firm like this some day. Good for Michelle Thomas. And you know what's really funny? I left that comment three months ago not even realizing this was that same law firm I watched do such great work in downtown Superior Court last year.

I cannot say strongly enough that these folks, and that process of a jury trial, gave me more hope than I have had since the three (not two) world trade center towers came down.

Paulvineyard

And they should have waited for the outcome to make their smart-ass comments.It seems someone is a little better off today.To the tune of $840,000.Stay tuned for the punitive phase.Some bloggers are just dumb.

Msmith

Today she was awarded 2,400,000 in punitive damages as well. For a total verdict of $3,240,000. Good thing this blogger has the sense to type on his computer all day as opposed to practicing law.