An overweight teen has reportedly filed suit against the "Rachael Ray" show, claiming the show's trainers screamed at, overworked, and humiliated her for a weight-loss segment, TMZ reported.
Christina Pagliarolo, who weighed in at 260 pounds, claims she was forced to hike in the mountains and "run like Forrest Gump," all the while being berated by the show's trainers, according to
TMZ.
Pagliarolo said her "Rachael Ray" trainer would regularly put her on a StairMaster and crank the speed up until it she couldn’t keep up anymore. The teen even fell off the exercise machine, she said, and injured her legs, but the trainer reportedly just yelled at her for falling off.
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Pagliarolo said she sustained emotional damage by the humiliating experience. Her suit alleges negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
"Christina says she was a mess after training," TMZ reported. "[She] suffered serious injuries including messed up legs."
But the "Rachael Ray" show is denying the lawsuit, claiming it hasn’t heard anything about it.
"We haven't received this purported lawsuit but if it does materialize we will defend ourselves against it vigorously and fully expect to prevail," a representative from "Rachael Ray" told TMZ in an email.
"Rachael Ray" is a daytime how-to show hosted by the eponymous celebrity cook. The program often tackles issues like love, relationships, health, and weight loss.
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This isn’t the first time the "Rachael Ray" show has been involved in legal drama. In 2008, a former accountant sued the show for $1 million claiming he was forced out of his job because he had an eating disorder.
He alleged that his supervisor said things like "Anorexics are sick in the head," and "Anorexics should not be able to work."
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