NBC being sued by ex-'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' staffer

NBC is in some hot water after a female post-production employee has sued the network's owner and several executives behind the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit series, saying that she was terminated after she complained about sexual discrimination and taking time off for breast cancer treatment.

Charlotte Grau, was terminated in May 2012 after seven years with NBC Universal. She says in a lawsuit filed yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court that mistreatment at the hands of NBCUniversal employees was routine, that she was paid less than her male colleagues for overtime, that she was told her work was inferior and that a male supervisor physically assaulted her. She seeks a minimum of $5 million in damages, on her claims of  sex discrimination, battery, assault, defamation and gender violence.

Grau was the only female colorist working on the program, as Hollywood's post-production community is heavily male. Several times she says she complained about issues but those complaints were overlooked.

"[NBC] Universal was intentionally failing to prevent or remedy the sexual harassment of female employees by male employees," the lawsuit states, adding that Grau "was routinely treated differently and less favorably than her male counterparts at Universal.

The physical violence she alleges was during a hug, when a male executive producer forcibly hit her in the back following the hug.

NBC Universal has not publically responded to the claims thus far.