Eliza Dushku Testifies to Congressional Committee About Being ‘Fired in Silence’ From ‘Bull’
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Eliza Dushku is speaking out.
The former Bull star testified to members of the House Judiciary Committee on November 16 about being “fired in silence” after reporting alleged harassment from co-star Michael Weatherly on the set of the CBS series.
The hearing, titled Silenced: How Forced Arbitration Keeps Victims of Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment in the Shadows, was held for lawmakers to debate new legislation eliminating forced arbitration clauses in employment, consumer, and civil rights cases.
Dushku detailed her sexual harassment claims against Weatherly, and stated that after she voiced her experience, she was fired from the series and forced into arbitration and a non-disclosure agreement. Thanks to a congressional subpoena to testify, Dushku was able to “break that silence” and share her story.
“Countless others who are bound by arbitration are not so fortunate,” Dushku said, as reported by Deadline.
While Dushku did not mention Weatherly by name in her opening statement, she alleged that her ex-colleague referred to her as “legs” and told Dushku that he would take her to his “rape van” and do things like “take me over his knee and spank me like a little girl.” Dushku added that her co-worker previously told her “his sperm were powerful swimmers.”
“These were not lines in the script,” Dushku clarified under oath. “They were incessant and demeaning and directed at me in the middle of what was supposed to be a professional workplace.”
Dushku added that due to the CBS workplace environment, she “feared that if I pushed back or reacted strongly, my job could be at risk, or my professional reputation could be harmed.” Various encounters including a suggestion to have a cast and crew “threesome” left her “physically nauseous.”
After Dushku allegedly asked Weatherly to stop the comments, his response, as she recalls, was: “No one is more respectful of women than me. I grew up with sisters.”
Dushku believed that Weatherly then texted a CBS Studios executive, who Dushku identified as David Stapf, to complain that Dushku “had a humor deficit” and got her removed from the series. She was fired the next day.
Dushku later learned that there was a mandatory arbitration clause in her contract that “would be used to keep what had happened to me a secret and would protect CBS and the sexual harassment perpetrator, who had blatantly retaliated against me for trying to stop the harassment in my workplace,” she explained during the hearing. “I was shocked to learn that I signed away my rights to a public forum before taking a job.”
David Giesbrecht/CBS/Bull
A CBS spokesperson declined to comment on Dushku’s testimony. However, at the time of Dushku coming forward, the network issued a statement: “The allegations in Ms. Dushku’s claims are an example that, while we remain committed to a culture defined by a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace, our work is far from done. The settlement of these claims reflects the projected amount that Ms. Dushku would have received for the balance of her contract as a series regular, and was determined in a mutually agreed upon mediation process at the time.”
Weatherly issued a statement to The New York Times in December 2018, acknowledging that he “made some jokes” during filming. “When Eliza told me that she wasn’t comfortable with my language and attempt at humor, I was mortified to have offended her and immediately apologized,” the statement read. “After reflecting on this further, I better understand that what I said was both not funny and not appropriate and I am sorry and regret the pain this caused Eliza.”
Dushku was paid $9.5 million in 2018 as a settlement for the sexual harassment claims against Weatherly while on the set of Bull.
