'Price is Right' Lawsuit: Model Brandi Cochran's $8.5 Million Pregnancy Discrimination Case Verdict Overturned, Judge Rules New Trial Necessary

Judge Kevin Brazile has overturned an $8.5 million verdict that was awarded to the former "Price is Right" model who sued the show's producers for pregnancy discrimination and wrongful termination. The judge has ruled that a new trial is necessary and that he did not properly instruct the jury. Apparently the 9-3 decision was not based on whether pregnancy discrimination was a significant reason in the producers' judgment to keep Cochran from rejoining the cast after the birth of her child.

Though this overturned verdict might seem like a setback for Cochran, her attorney Carney Shegerian, said yesterday that the ruling was appropriate and he expects the damages to go higher in the case. He said, "I think on re-trial I'll get triple or quadruple that."

Mstarz covered Brandi Cochran's trial in late 2012. Here is an excerpt:

Cochran's alleged account is rather heartbreaking -TMZ reports that she initially got pregnant back in 2007, but was too scared to tell her employers given the likelihood of getting fired. The former Miss USA insists that the stress was so severe at the time that the "pregnancy ended in a miscarriage." One producer allegedly claimed it was "nature's way of getting rid of a bad baby." Cochran then got pregnant again in 2010, and "The Price is Right" staffers supposedly began harshly criticizing the changing size of her body. One backstage worker even once alerted others to her oncoming presence by exclaiming, "Wide load coming through."

Not too long after, Cochran had to take a disability leave of absence from the show once complications arose once again in her pregnancy. During the time of her absence, her modeling gig with the popular daytime game show was promptly terminated.

The jury found that Cochran's pregnancy was indeed the reason she wasn't rehired - she was ultimately awarded $776,944 in the suit against producers FremantleMedia North America and The Price is Right Productions. In their defense, producers insist that they were satisfied with the five models already working on the show when Cochran attempted to get her spot back.