A former production assistant for Spike TV’s “Ink Master” tattoo reality show slapped the cable network with a federal sexual harassment suit Monday, claiming she was wrongfully fired after complaining she was bombarded late last year with inappropriate comments and “touching” by two of the show’s celebrity judges.
Nicoletta Robinson, 25, filed the Manhattan federal court suit against Spike TV, parent company Viacom and celebrity tattoo-artist judges Oliver Peck and Chris Nunez, claiming both men are male chauvinist pigs who made outrageous comments to her like she can “go home and suck some d–ks” and asked her if she “ever had anal sex.”
The suit also alleges Peck — who inked his way into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2008 by knocking off 415 tattoos of the number “13” in a single day — “squeezed,” “pinched” and “tickled” Robinson’s legs and underarms against her will. Robinson, of Springfield, NJ, also claims Peck even once “pulled” her seat-belt “tightly against her breasts” while she was chauffeuring both men around last November.
The suit also claims Nunez “discussed having sex with his wife in Robinson’s presence.”
Robinson worked for the reality TV show in which tattoo artists compete against each other from Oct. 29 to Nov. 8, and her primary duties were “to chauffeur and run errands” for Peck and Nunez. She claims she was fired after complaining to company honchos about Peck and Nunez’s alleged inappropriate behavior and that Viacom and Spike did not “have a mechanism in place for Robinson to formally register” a complaint.
“From the onset of her employment with Peck and Nunez, both men regularly and repeatedly made inappropriate and offensive sexual comments and degrading remarks about women to Robinson, and to other female employees in her presence,” the suit says.
“Robinson was also subjected to non-consensual, unwelcome, and inappropriate touching by Peck, as well as to sexual advances from both men.”
The suit seeks unspecified money damages.
Robinson’s lawyer Kenneth J. Katz said in a statement, “We hope that this suit will not just rectify the wrongs of our client, but will also remind other employers to ensure a safe work environment, free of illegal discrimination and harassment.”
Spike, Viacom, Peck and Nunez did not immediately return messages seeking comment.