Faith Stowers’ lawsuit against Bravo and Vanderpump Rules producers over alleged discrimination has been moved to arbitration, despite the former SURver’s attempt to have the proceedings played out publicly, In Touch reports.
According to the outlet, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has granted the network and show producers’ motion to move the former ‘Vanderpump Rules’ star’s lawsuit to arbitration– a private court where proceedings will not be made available to the public and the final decision in the case will be made by an arbitrator.
While Faith wanted to fight her former employers in public court, Bravo and ‘Vanderpump Rules’ producers argued that Faith had signed multiple release forms to appear on the Bravo series, all of which stated that any dispute that occurred while filming the show would be heard in arbitration and not in public court.
At a court hearing last week, it was ruled that the release forms Faith signed were both enforceable and clear.
“The Defendants have satisfied their burden of showing the existence of an agreement to arbitrate,” the order read, according to In Touch.
Faith’s lawsuit will reportedly be put on pause until a final decision is made in arbitration.
As The Ashley previously told you, Faith filed the lawsuit in April alleging discrimination and retaliation, nearly six years after threatening to sue (at least one of) her former ‘Vanderpump Rules’ co-stars over racist actions. Documents in her initial filing noted that Faith “appeared on 51 episodes [of ‘Vanderpump Rules’] as the show’s only black cast member before being driven out by a vicious campaign of racist harassment and retaliation.”
Faith’s lawsuit also details an incident in which she claims she was “violently assaulted” by cast member Lala Kent, who was allegedly wielding a knife at the time. (While the incident involving Lala is mentioned in the suit, Lala is not named a defendant.)
After allegedly being “recruited” to join ‘Vanderpump Rules’ by show matriarch and restauranteur Lisa Vanderpump in order to “add more color to the cast,” Faith claims she was paid $5,000 for her first season on the Bravo series. According to court documents, Faith soon realized “she was getting more than she bargained for,” as she went on to be subjected to racism, sexual harassment and physical assault during her first season on the show.
As The Ashley previously reported, Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute were fired from ‘Vanderpump Rules’ in June 2020 for racist actions against Faith– most notably an incident in 2018 when the two allegedly called the police on Faith and attempted to have her arrested for crimes she didn’t commit. (Kristen later returned to Bravo in 2023 for an episode of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ and currently stars on the ‘Vanderpump Rules’ spin-off, The Valley. Stassi has not returned to Bravo, however, she’s slated to star on Season 2 of Hulu’s Vanderpump Villa and is also getting her own Hulu docuseries called Stassi Says.)
Despite reporting the alleged mistreatment to show producers, Faith claims she was “warned in no uncertain terms to keep quiet and play nice,” which she reluctantly did, only to later discover that she had been demoted an unpaid volunteer on the Bravo series “without any actual change in her employment status.”
Faith also claims in her lawsuit that she was threatened with “ruinous legal action” by NBC if she spoke out about her experience on ‘Vanderpump Rules.’
Faith has yet to comment on the latest update regarding her lawsuit.
(Photos: MTV; Bravo; Instagram)
One Response
Where are these 51 episodes? She appeared in maybe 4 episodes. If they’re counting her being included in the final group shot of the opening credits that’s a STRETCH.