Mindy McKoin’s suit included allegations of sexual harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination
A former assistant director on Emmy-nominated comedy series “Shrinking” has sued the series’ executive producer, Randall Winston, and Warner Bros Television for sexual harassment and battery, retaliation, and wrongful termination, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
In the suit filed in California state court on Tuesday September 15, Mindy McKoin accused the production of reducing the number of hours worked on the time cards of the crew and herself. She also alleged that Winston groped her.
Time card tampering
McKoin began work on “Shrinking” as a key second assistant director in 2024. She reportedly noticed that a day’s work was cut from her time; on flagging the issue, she was informed that this was how production accounting had been instructed to record her time.
This year, Warner Bros appointed her the only key second assistant director for the series’ fourth season. After tackling budget work for an evening as requested by the production, she asked for the extra hours to be approved and compensated – this request was denied, McKoin said.
She raised the issue to production company Doozer Productions, owned by “Shrinking” co-creator Bill Lawrence, later that month. Subsequently, McKoin claimed that producer Kip Kroeger confronted her over her action.
McKoin reportedly told Kroeger about the illegal tampering with her time card. She also informed the production that she had readied a wage-theft claim.
The production supposedly accused her of “speaking disrespectfully to the crew on the prior day’s tech scout,” according to a snippet of the suit published by The Hollywood Reporter. McKoin was then allegedly terminated after she asked for appropriate compensation for folding a pickup shot for Warner Bros Television series “Bad Monkey” into a “Shrinking” filming day; when asked why she was fired, McKoin was told the reason was “different needs of production.”
Sexual harassment
McKoin said in the suit that the sexual harassment by Winston occurred in June 2024 during a wrap party. She claimed that the producer grabbed and groped her breast from behind while she was talking to a crewmember at the event.
She flagged the incident to her supervisor, but nothing was done, according to the suit.
“Warner Bros. knew or should have known of the harassment — including through Plaintiff’s report to her direct supervisor — and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action,” McKoin’s lawyer, Avi Gholian, wrote in the complaint, a snippet of which was published by The Hollywood Reporter.
The publication indicated that Winston did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Warner Bros Television spokesperson released a statement claiming that McKoin’s accusations were unsubstantiated.
“Once the allegations were raised, the studio immediately engaged an independent third-party to conduct a thorough investigation, consistent and in accordance with those policies and procedures. Based on the completed investigation, the studio concluded that the allegations were unsubstantiated and unsupported by any corroborating evidence,” the spokesperson said in the statement published by The Hollywood Reporter.
McKoin's suit seeks unspecified damages.
“Shrinking” stars Jason Segel and Harrison Ford. The series, which focuses on the lives of a group of therapists, was nominated for several Emmys, including for Best Comedy Series last year.
