Robbins is accused of violating disability laws in suit
Life coach and motivational speaker Tony Robbins discriminated against one of his employees by refusing to grant her the accommodations she needed to work from home after she contracted a debilitating case of COVID-19 in the spring, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The lawsuit also charges that Robbins falsely claimed to have helped the employee recover by asking a doctor friend of his to intervene in her care after she was placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, accuses Robbins; his company, Robbins Research International; and his wife, Bonnie P. Robbins, who is known as Sage; of violating several disability laws.
The employee, Despina Kosta, worked for Robbins for 18 years — the first nine in Europe and the last nine in the U.S., where she had a job in New York as a sales executive or “personal results specialist.”
At the start of the pandemic, the lawsuit claims, Robbins downplayed the severity of the coronavirus and pushed his team to continue selling in-person events. Kosta claims she voiced concerns about the approach but was ignored.
In April, Kosta, 52, developed a high fever and was found to have COVID-19. She was placed in a medically induced coma from April 12 through May 1, according to the lawsuit and Kosta.
Kosta tried to return to work July 1 and asked her supervisor and a human resources official if she could work “just a few hours” a day as she recovered and built back her strength, she said Wednesday night.
“They said no to that,” she said. Since July, Kosta said, she has been unable to get access to her work email or the company’s database. Without that access, she has been unable to work, she said.
Jennifer Connelly, a spokeswoman for Robbins, said the claims in the lawsuit were “ridiculous and baseless.”
She said Kosta “remains a current employee” and that the company had “provided all needed accommodations” and “continues to pay the complete cost of her medical insurance, even though its legal obligation to do so ended in June.”