Nicole Spence vs. Wendy Williams

I've yet to voice my opinion on the Wendy Williams scandal. Partially because I do in fact have so much love and respect for Ms. Wendy. I consider her and Dame Dash my entertainment parents. Wendy gave me my first shot at learning and loving radio, and for that I couldn't be anymore grateful. While I do support Wendy and have nothing negative to say about her. I can in fact say that I don't doubt the allegations Nicole Spence has made towards Wendy's husband Kevin. Regardless on whether these allegations serve to be true, Wendy will stick by her husband and love him endlessly.And with that I don't believe anyone should critize or fault Wendy for that. She made a vow to stand by her man thru better or for worse and thats exactly what she is doing. And while she may sound crazy and even might get suspended from WBLS for making threats to Nicole Spence on air, jsut remember she's a cancer like me and we speak out of emotion.
While I pray for Wendy and hope this all blows over (Radio just wouldn't be the same without her) I can say in Nicoles defense if these allegations are true, that justice is served for her. No woman should ever have to work in such a hostile enviornment, and emotionally and mentally have to go through being sexually harassed day in and day out.

SUPPLEMENT TO EEOC CHARGE OF DISCRIVIINATION
BY NICOLE SPENCE
Beckground
l. In or about August 2004,1began working for WBLS-FM (*WBLS") as an intern
for the radio program "The Wendy Williams Experience." WBLS is a radio
station that is owned by Inner City Broadcast Corporation Holdings, Inc., ("lnner
City") (WBLS and Inner City are hereinafter referred to as the "Company").
Wendy Williams is an employee of the Company and a well-known radio
personality and celebrity whose program airs weekdays on WBLS from 2:00 p.m,
to 7:00 p.m,
2. Because 0f my exemplary work pcrformance, in or about May 2006, I was
promoted to the position of Talent Booker/Publicist, also known as Talent
Producer, for "The Wendy Williams Experience." In my role as Talent Booker, I
was primarily responsible for booking and coordinating the guests that would
appear on the show and preparing guests for their appearance. For example, I
prepared background information and drafted the on-air questions for Ms.
Williams to ask the guests, I also joined the guests in the studio frequently and
spoke on the air during the program.
3. During my employment with the Company,I performed and continue to perform
my job with the highest degree of professionalism and competence. I consistently
demonstrated excellent work performance at the Company and have never
received any negative perfbrmance evaluation. "The Wendy Williams
Experience" receives the top ratings for many demographics during the afternoon
slot and hcr show is syndicated to stations across the United States. Because the
guests of the show and the diaiogue between Ms. Williams and the guests are
critical to the program, my work product unequivocally contributed to this
success.
4, Despite my exemplary work perlbrmance, I have been subjected to an ongoing
hostile work environment due to my gender. Moreover, when I complained about
the hostile work environment, Ms. Williams and the Company unlawfully
retaliated against me by, among other acts, stripping me of my job duties.
The Severe and Peryasive Sexual Harassment
5. Throughout my employment with the Company, Kevin l{unter, Ms. Williams'
husband and manager, subjected me [0 severe and pervasive sexual harassment.
For example, Mr. Hunter repeatedly sexually propositioned me at work, in the
most crude and vulgar ways, telling me over and over that he wanted to "fuck"
me.
6. Recently, his sexual propositions escalaied into the obsessive, and during the
work day at the Company's studio, he constantly told me of his desire to "fuck"
m0 and that he had been droaming about sleeping with me'
7. Mr. Hunter also made demeaning personal comments to me, including that I
needed "a real man in my life to mold me into the woman that I am supposed to
be," proclaiming, of course, that he was that man.
8. He has also repeatedly degraded me and other women in the workplace on the
basis of our gender by, among other things, openly refening to us as "bitches."
9. Ms. Williams, for her part, has aided and abetted the harassment and abuse that I
and other female employees were subjected to by her husband and manager, Mr.
Hunter, and even offered to take me shopping so I could dress "like a sexy iittle
bitch" as Mr. Hunter demanded. In fact, Ms. Williams' Iack of respect for proper
workplace conduct is demonstrated by her own conduct in forcing a subordinate
to have sex with her to keep his job.
10. When I refused to give in to Mr. Hunter's constant sexual demands, his conduct
became increasing offensive, hostile and threatening.
I l. Mr. Hunter aiso openly insulted me in the workplace, including by deriding me
for my Jamaican background. For example, he told me that I was not cute but in
fact was "just Jamaican."
Physical Threats and Acts of Violence
12. In addition, Mr, Hunter has sought to enlist other employees in his harassment,
including Leonard "Charlamagne" McKelvey, who is Ms. Williams' co-host on
"The Wendy Williams Experience." With respect to me, Mr. Hunter told Mr.
McKelvey to /'get at her," to "get into that bitch's head" to "fuck he/' in order to
"break her down physically and mentally" and to ensure that she "did not forget
where she came from," He also told Mr. McKelvey to "keep your foot on her
throat."
13. Mr, Hunter coupled these horrifying statements with escalating verbal abuse,
including frequently referring to me as a "stupid fucking bitch" in the presence of
other employees, which I found deeply offensive and humiliating.
14. He also physically threatened me. Specifically, on one occasion after Ms.
Williams and her co-hosts consumed alcoholic beverages during the show, Mr.
Hunter charged at me while threatening to inflict physical harm upon me. I also
feared Mr. Hunter because he repeatedly physically assaulted Ms. Williams at or
near the WBLS studio, In one instance, Mr. Hunter stormed into the studio,
demanded that the other employees leave and openly physically abused Ms.
Williams, pinning her against the wall with his hand around her neck, choking her
while repeatedly pounding his frst into the wall directly by her head. In another
incident, Mr. Hunter reportedly punched Ms. Williams in the face and violently
attacked her in the parking lot across the street from WBLS, r.vhich is frequently
used by Company employgoo,
15. Despite these repeated acts of violence, the Company did not prevent similar
future incidents of physical intimidation and outbursts by Mr. Hunter, In fact, the
Company, aware of Mr, Hunter's improper and unlawful conduct, not only failed
to take sufficient steps to stop it, but gave him free reign over the studio and
unfettered access to sexually harass me and other women. Indeed, at one point,
Mr. Hunter even demanded, under thrsat of termination, that female interns in the
office wear bathing suits in the workplace.
16. Mr. Hunter's sexual harassment, including his repeated demands for sex, occurred
in plain view and was witnessed by numerous Company employces, including top
management,
17. By way of example only, Catrice Allen of Human Resources admitted that she
personally heard Mr. Hunter sexually proposition me in the workplace, and
warned me to watch out for Mr. Hunter because he was boasting that he wanted to
"fuck" me,
18. The Company simply ignored and even acquiesced in Mr. Hunter's egregious
conduct towards me and other female employees, apparently to placate Ms.
Williams, whose program generates a substantial amount of revenues for the
Company.
My Repeated Complaints and the Company's Failure to Act
19, I complained about Mr. Hunter's sexual demands, vulgar comments and other
improper conduct to Vinny Brown, who was the Program Director at WBLS until
last month. However, Mr. Brown failed to take any remedial action or do
anything about the matter. Without the Company's intervention, I, along with the
other female employees, continued to endure an environment in which we were
subjected to pervasive sexual harassment, feared for our own physical safety and
suffered emotional distress,
20. On or about February 19,2008,I complained about Mr. Hunter to Cynthia Smith,
the Assistant Program Director, after becoming increasingly afraid of him. Ms.
Smith told me to bring my concerns to Deon Livingston, the Vice President and
General Manager 0f WBLS I advised Mr, Livingston that I was oonserncd for
my safety duc to Mr. Hunter's violent and unlawful behavior. I also told Mr.
Livingston about my prior complaint to Vinny Brown.
21. In addition to these verbal complaints, otFebruary 20,2008,1also submitted a
written complaint to l{uman Resources at'the Company. In my complaint, I
again described Mr. Hunter's sexual harassment and stated that I was "afraid of
him" and felt like "a battered woman or an abused child."
22.1am not the only female employee who filed written and/or verbal complaints
about Mr. Hunter.
23. Only after having received repeated complaints, including my written complaint
on February 20, did the Company take any action at all, which proved to be
completely inadequate. For example, as an ineffective resolution to the threats,
violence, sexual harassment and verbal abuse described above, Mr. Livingston
temporarily banned Mr. Hunter from the offices of WBLS. I continue to feel
vulnerable however, as the duration and efficacy of this "ban" is unknown.
24. Moreover, Mr. Hunter was never employed by WBLS or officially "authorized"
to access Company property in the first place, yet he was allowed to enter the
workplace as he pleased and openly utter and/or yell obscenities and threats, make
vulgar sexual and other derogatory comments and engage in sexual harassment.
In addition, the Company has not communicated to me how long this ban will be
in effect nor has it taken steps to prevent me from on-going harm from others,
including Ms. Williams. In fact, after my complaints, I have been subjected to
blatanl acts of unlawful retaliation. as described below.
Unlawful Retaliation by the Company and Ms. Williams
25. Immediately after I sent my written complaint to Mr. Livingston, the Company re-
located my desk away from the staff of "The Wendy Williams Experience," The
move was a retaliatory act, punishing me by moving me away from the on-going
contact with and on-air participation in the show, which undermined my position
at the Company and as a talent booker in the industry. Moreover, this action by
the Company signaled to Ms. Williams that I was the employee who complained
about her husband.
26. Consequently, in a further act of retaliation, Ms. Williams now refuses to work
witl, acknowledge or even speak to me and has summarily rejected all guests
booked by me without explanation. She has also acted towards me in a hostile
manner. These actions have severely damaged my ability to effectively perform
my duties, as well as my repulation and career as a talent booker.
27. On February 27 and28,2008,I again complained to the Company, reporting that
Ms, Williams was retaliating againol mc by refusing to allow the guests I booked
to come onto the show.
28. In another ineffective response by the Company, Ms. Williams was suspended for
two days, but upon information and belief, was not formally counseled or even
advised as to why she was suspended. As a result, when Ms. Williams returned,
she continued to refuse to deal with me and still refuses to place my guests on the
show.
29.lnfact, to intentionally cause severe damage to my reputation, Ms. Williams
orders me to cancel guests without practically any notice, sometimes less than one
hour before the guest is scheduled to appear on the air and while they are waiting
to go on her show. For example, Ms. Williams recently rejected one such guest at
the last minute withoutjustification, even though that guest had been booked for
wggk5, travEled all the way from Florida to be on her show and was waiting
downstairs in the lobby,
30, Moreover, upon Ms. Williams' return from suspension she has threatened and
embarrassed me on the air. On March 3, Ms, Williams began her show to the
sounds of gun shots stating, in substance, "You thought you got me but I'm still
standing." This blatant act of intimidation honified me as I again feared for my
job, safety and further retaliation. I again complained to Mr. Livingston, Human
Resources and other Company management, all to no avail.
3 I . In addition, a couple of days ago when I escorted a guest into the studio during a
broadcast, Ms, Williams ordered me to leave the studio while on the air. As
listeners and industry colleagues are well aware, I typically stay in the studio or
even talk when I bring guests in. Now because I complained about her husband's
sexual harassment, vulgar comments and acts of physical intimidation, I was
dismissed and openly embarrassed in front of the entire radio audience. I also
complained about this conduct to Mr. Livingston, who did absolutely nothing
about it.
32, In response to my continued complaints, the Company has not disciplined Ms.
Williams or taken steps to protect me from further retaliation. Instead, the
rstaliation being committcd against mo ha$ only incrca$ed, More specifically, Mr,
Livingston recently instructed me to prepare a job description for my position, a
highly unusual, and obviously pretextual, step given that I have been employed by
the Company for four years without a formal job description. After I complied
with his request, Mr. Livingston has systematically removed tasks, including
more prestigious work, I had previously performed. For example, my booking
duties were taken away from me and given to an individual who was not even
employed by or affiliated with the Company, which was purely retaliatory.
33. Because my talent booking tasks were reassigned without explanation, I have
received numerous telephone calls from publicists and others in my industry, who
believed that I was terminated by the Company. Thus, the stripping away of my
duties has further damaged my career.
34. When I again complained to the Company that my duties have been unjustly
taken away, the Company has failed to take any remedial action. In fact, Mr.
Livingston actually confirmed that the executive producer of Ms. Williams' show
would now handle the talent booking resp-onsibilities instead of me, as per Ms,
Williams' instructions,
35. It is clear that Ms. Williams, Mr. Livingston and others at WBLS are attempting
to force me out of the Company in retaliation for my complaints.
36. Needless to say, I am devastated by the unlawful actions taken against me. I have
suffered, and continue to suffer, severe emotional distress as a result of the
abusive sexual harassment and retaliation committed against me. In addition, my
successful career has been ineparably harmed because of the unlawful retaliation
by the Company and Ms. Williams.
37. Therefore, I file this Charge on behalf of myself, as well as any other female
Company employees who have been discriminated and retaliated against, and
request all available and appropriate relief.