The former employee sued last fall for allegedly stalking Atlanta media mogul Tyler Perry has filed his own lawsuit, alleging that he was fired for denying the sexual advances of a superior and claiming that Perry exposed him to "public contempt and ridicule."
The suit asks for millions of dollars in damages.
Joshua Sole’s first run-in with Perry came on Oct. 30, 2014, the day that, according to legal documents later filed by Perry, he disabled alarms and surveillance equipment and entered the entrepreneur’s southwest Atlanta studio through the ceiling. A production assistant, Sole had reportedly been seeking a one-on-one meeting with Perry.
Sole, who later called it all "a misunderstanding that was blown out of proportion by security guards," was arrested and fired following the incident.
On Wednesday, Sole and attorney Kwame Thompson filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, naming as defendants Perry, Tyler Perry Studios and Brett Hendrix, a former supervisor. The 17-page document makes individual claims under headings that include “hostile environment sexual harassment,” retaliation, battery, “intentional infliction of emotional distress” and libel.
The suit accuses Hendrix, a “continuity coordinator” at the studio, of “inappropriately touching” and flirting with Sole, as well as creating “a working environment that was intimidating, insulting, and abusive to male employees.” It claims Sole was “removed from the workplace … (and) arrested for no reason” as retaliation for complaining about Hendrix’s conduct.
The suit also takes issue with a lengthy Facebook post Perry published a week or so after Sole’s arrest. In detailing the encounter, Perry wrote that “to do something like this someone has to be mentally disturbed.”
That statement, the suit says, was likely seen by millions of people and “exposed (Sole) to public contempt and ridicule.”
“Defendant Tyler Perry’s actions constitute libel, and as such, Plaintiff is entitled to special damages,” the suit says. “Plaintiff has suffered anxiety, depression and emotional distress” following the Facebook post, it says.
Most of the individual claims within the lawsuit end with a passage claiming damages of $5 million. It was unclear Thursday night if Sole was claiming a total of $5 million in damages or $5 million for each claim — a sum that would reach $60 million.
Attempts to reach Perry’s spokeswoman were unsuccessful Thursday night.
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