Ex-"Price is Right" model wins $775,000 in pregnancy lawsuit

Brandi Cochran arrives at the 33rd Annual Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on April 22, 2006, in Los Angeles. / Getty

Jurors awarded nearly $777,000 Tuesday to a former "The Price is Right" model who claimed she was discriminated against by producers because of her pregnancy.

Brandi Cochran, 41, said she was rejected by the game show's producers when she tried to return to work in early 2010 after taking maternity leave.

The Superior Court jury determined her pregnancy was the reason she wasn't rehired and awarded Cochran $776,944 in the suit against producers FremantleMedia North America and The Price is Right Productions.

In their defense, producers said they were satisfied with the five models working on the show at the time Cochran sought to return.

A second phase of the trial will determine whether Cochran should be awarded punitive damages. Cochran's attorneys had asked for more than $8 million, City News Service reported.

Jurors began deliberations Thursday, telling Judge Kevin Brazile several times that they were deadlocked before reaching the verdict.

In a statement, FremantleMedia said it expects to be "fully vindicated" after an appeal, adding that it stands behind executive producer Mike Richards and the show's staff.

"We believe the verdict in this case was the result of a flawed process in which the court, among other things, refused to allow the jury to hear and consider that 40 percent of our models have been pregnant," and further "important" evidence, FremantleMedia said.

A call seeking comment from Cochran's attorney wasn't immediately returned Tuesday.

The verdict is a rare one for a program that has seen other lawsuits. Longtime host Bob Barker, who retired in 2007, was sued by some of the show's hostesses for sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

Most of the cases involving "Barker's Beauties" - the nickname given the gown-wearing women who presented prizes to contestants - ended with out-of-court settlements.

Comedian-actor Drew Carey followed Barker as the show's host.

"The Price is Right" airs weekdays on CBS.

[Niceer1]

The prizes just got down graded.
Anyway I don't want another offspring. I just like practicing as much as I can, in case I change my mind.

[mandiegracetaylor]

All of my years in the workforce - everytime a woman said, "i'm preggers - the only happy camper was the preggie..." everyone rolled their eyes and launched into how this would put out the department - the company - and there would be so many snarky remarks of "well, she knows how to get three months off..." I was laid off eight months pregnant - had to buy back my own insurance and sat at home and thought - just one more month..."

One girl interviewed for a job and got it - and told us the next week she was 3 months pregnant and our supervisor fumed - you could see the smoke wafting from the office- and on top of that - she was labled the office liar -

I was hoping things had changed.....

Maybe they mostly have..... I don't know

[aubfmet]

Could not the show write contracts that would preclude such lawsuits? Hire everybody with a 1 year term.

[AlManfree]

Boy, I gotta say,. for a show that tries to present itself as "mainstream Americana", and "wholesome entertainment", (when in fact it's simply a 30 minute product commercial), they sure do have a lot of "issues" in the way they've treated women through the years over at TPIR Productions.

First you have Bob "The Animal" Barker trying to tap anything in a skirt, the Lanisha Cole harassment suit, among others, and now this.

What's up over at FremantleMedia North America anyway?