in october 2007, deborah curling, a cbs employee assigned to "the price is right", filed a lawsuit against cbs, bob barker and "the price is right" producers, claiming that she was forced to quit her job after testifying against barker in a wrongful-termination lawsuit brought by a previous show producer. curling claimed that she was demoted to an "intolerable work environment" backstage which caused her to leave the job. curling, who is black, also alleged that the show's producers, including barker, created a hostile work environment in which black employees and contestants were discriminated against. a few months later, barker was removed from the lawsuit, and in september 2009, the lawsuit was dismissed. curling's attorney stated that he planned to appeal the dismissal of the lawsuit. in january 2012, the california court of appeals affirmed the dismissal.