Employees everywhere should not only be free of sexual harassment in the workplace, but they should feel comfortable at work. They should be allowed to flourish in an environment in which they can be productive and content.

A former employee of MTV, however, says this was not the case for her. Quite the contrary. The woman, who reportedly worked as a field clearance coordinator and production coordinator for the TV series "The Hills," says she was forced to endure dangerous conditions, sexual harassment and a hostile work environment because of her job.

According to the Toronto Sun, the woman filed a lawsuit against MTV and New Remote Productions earlier this month. Among a host of allegations, she says she was sexually harassed, denied meal breaks and overtime pay and was placed in unnecessarily dangerous situations while working on "The Hills."

The problems apparently started when the show took a trip to Costa Rica in May 2010. She says the network hired a local man who was paired up with her. He allegedly pressured her to smoke marijuana with him. When she returned from the trip, she says fellow staffers made jokes and implied the pair had been sexual partners.

She says male co-workers made inappropriate and crude jokes at her expense, causing her mental distress. In addition to the sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims, she has included wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims as part of her lawsuit.

Source: Toronto Sun, "Ex 'Hills' staffer sues MTV," Tim Kenneally, Oct. 19, 2011