CBS and parent company Paramount Global are accused of “blatant” discrimination against white, straight male freelance writers for imposing strict diversity rules on writers for the network’s “SEAL Team” series, according to a federal lawsuit. ing.
Brian Beneker, script coordinator and freelance writer for CBS’ “SEAL Team,” was denied a staff writer’s job because of his race, gender and sexual orientation, according to a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the United States. It is said that he was illegally refused. California.
Beneker became script coordinator for the pilot episode of “Seal Team,” a drama about the pressures on Navy SEALs, in 2017, but quickly moved on to write episodes as a freelancer for the show’s second season. I received an offer.
According to the lawsuit, Beneker was told that she would have to resign from her job as a script coordinator in order to continue working as a screenwriter, and that a “woman with no experience as a script coordinator” was appointed to replace her. “I was having a hard time getting the job done,” he said. She said: “She quit about two weeks after she started training.”
Beneker, of America First Legal Foundation and J.W. Howard Lawyers, is responding to CBS CEO George Cheeks’ widely reported “goal of 40% staffing in writers’ rooms for all of the network’s prime-time series.” He quoted the order as follows: [with] bipoc [black, indigenous and people of color]For the 2021-2022 season.
According to court documents, CBS will increase the percentage of BIPOC writers on TV shows for the 2022-2023 season to 50%, increase the requirement that 50% of reality TV cast members be BIPOC, and change hiring policies across Paramount Global. It was pointed out that it was shared by
The lawsuit comes amid a continuing uproar over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies within the entertainment industry, with Beneker claiming he was passed over for a less qualified candidate who ticked the diversity boxes. are doing.
The America First Legal Foundation, founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, posted on X late Thursday: “We just sued CBS in federal court for blatant anti-white discrimination in violation of federal law. America First Legal is committed to holding the entertainment giant accountable for its lawless and bigoted conduct. will fight.”
Beneker took over his former coordinator position in Season 2 and received a call from the CBS Creative Executive Office to confirm that certain writers on the show “were or appeared to be Asian.” claims to have received it.
At the time, Beneker asked showrunner John Glenn to hire him as a writer, but was told there were already too many writers. But according to court documents, Glenn hired “a black man with little background or experience as a screenwriter.”
When Glenn was replaced in 2019 by Spencer Hudnutt, Beneker asked his new boss why CBS hired a black male writer. Hudnutt reportedly claimed that it was because he was black.
Meanwhile, Beneker wrote the Season 3 finale, “No Choice in Duty,” as a freelancer and was approached by Hudnut to be “next in line for staff writer,” the suit says.
However, when Season 4 began, Beneker was told by his boss that he could not be offered any work, and he was given freelance writing as an assistant to a female writer who had no writing credits. She will be offered a job as a staff writer in season 5.
The next season, Beneker co-wrote another script, but was again given full-time scriptwriting duties, with relatively novice female writers chosen, one black and one lesbian.
Hudnutt told Beneker that the new hire “checked the diversity box,” but he didn’t, according to the complaint.
“Defendants implemented an illegal policy of racial and gender ‘balancing’ in SEAL team press rooms,” court documents state.
“This balancing policy forces straight white men to require ‘additional’ qualifications (military service) to be hired as staff writers compared to their non-white, LGBTQ, or female colleagues who do not require such qualifications. Situations have arisen in which experience, previous writing credits, etc.) are required. Additional Qualifications,” the lawsuit added.
Mr. Beneker is suing for more than $500,000 in lost wages and benefits and other damages, as well as a permanent injunction barring the media giant from violating anti-discrimination laws.
He is also looking for full-time work as a producer, and a court has ruled that the company’s hiring policies violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
