(LEGAFI) -- NBC late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon has been hit with a gender discrimination lawsuit by his former stage manager, who claims he was demoted and then fired and replaced by a “totally incompetent woman” simply because Fallon “prefers to take direction from a woman.”

Paul Tarascio alleges in the gender bias lawsuit that he was demoted in 2010, the year after Fallon took the late night position at NBC. The network is also being sued for gender discrimination.

According to Tarascio’s lawsuit, Fallon’s director told him, “Jimmy just prefers to take direction from a woman.” Tarascio claims in the lawsuit he was a victim of gender bias, and that “other male staffers, such as audio technicians and a Prop-Master were also replaced by women at Jimmy’s request.”

Tarascio first filed a gender discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the New York Division of Human Rights last year. At that time, NBS issued a statement saying, “We have yet to see any of the charges. Any claim of sexual discrimination is without merit." NBC has not yet commented on the lawsuit.

 

Tarascio is seeking punitive damages and lost wages in his gender discrimination lawsuit against Jimmy Fallon and NBC.