• 14
  • October
    2011

Melissa Joan Hart became famous in her role as "Sabrina, the teenage witch," a show that followed the would-be life of a young girl with magical powers as she both made mistakes and fixed them with her spells.

In real life, there is no spell that can fix a claim filed in a Los Angeles court by an employee of Sweet Harts Sweets -the candy and yogurt company the actress owns - who says she was wrongfully terminated after complaining about discriminatory working conditions. The company and Melissa in her individual capacity were named in the suit.

The employee is an African American female who was hired for the manager position at the Sherman Oaks location in May of 2011. She was paid a salary of $450 per week, but the employee claims that she was forced to work many more hours than she was scheduled due to understaffing problems.

By June of 2011, the employee was working approximately 60 hours per week for which she was not adequately compensated. The employee reported that she was not paid overtime or given enough breaks according to California law.

The lawsuit also includes claims that the employee had been the subject of racial discrimination. Her employers also allegedly "berated and humiliated her," using her performance and co-worker relationship as a basis for the criticism.

A spokesman for Melissa Joan Hart said that she may have dreamt up the vision for the store and remains the owner, but that she "does not currently function in a day-to-day operational capacity."

Source: E! Online, "Say It Ain't So, Sabrina - Melissa Joan Hart Sued for Racial Profiling?!" Marianne Garvey and Claudia Rosenbaum, Sept. 30, 2011