TV Production Staffers Allege That Entertainment Company Fired Them in Retaliation for Discrimination Complaints

The cheeriest workplaces tend to hold dark secrets.  The TV shows that bring smiles to an audience of millions are far less entertaining for the people on screen, and at least as bad for the ones who are off camera.  The shows that are as much fun to produce as they are to watch are the exception to the rule; if you watch interviews with the actors or puppeteers from the early years of Sesame Street, you can tell that the joy you saw on screen when you were a child was real, and you can’t help but be sad that those days may never return; compared to most of what you see today in the entertainment media and in real life, Oscar the Grouch is a ray of sunshine.  When you watch game shows, it looks like it would be so much fun to play, but according to a recent lawsuit, what goes on behind the scenes of several popular, long-running TV game shows is anything but fun and games.  If your employer antagonized you while ostensibly entertaining the public, contact a Los Angeles discrimination and harassment lawyer.

Plaintiffs Claim That TV Studio Fired Women of Color and Replaced Them With Inexperienced White Employees

Two women who worked for the production company that produces several game shows that have aired on network TV for decades filed complaints with the California Civil Rights Department in October 2024.  One of the plaintiffs is a Black woman who worked as a production executive with the company for 26 years, eventually becoming the company’s highest ranking Black executive.  The other is a Latina woman who worked in the licensing and clearance department.  The plaintiffs claim that, for many years, they and other employees of color experienced harassment at work in the form of offensive comments from coworkers and supervisors.  They also claim that they received lower pay than White employees who held the same job titles as they did and performed the same duties.

The two plaintiffs were among a group of employees who complained about the harassment and the pay discrepancies.  In April 2024, the company terminated the employment of the two plaintiffs and, according to one of them, “every diverse person” who worked on the production of the show.  The employees who replaced the fired employees were younger, and all or almost all of them were White.  The plaintiffs claim that the termination of their employment and that of their colleagues was discriminatory and retaliatory.  A spokesperson for the TV studio said that the elimination of the plaintiffs’ positions and those of the other fired employees were a “business efficiency decision” and not a matter of discrimination or retaliation.

Speak With a Los Angeles Employment Discrimination Lawyer

A Los Angeles employment discrimination and retaliation lawyer can represent you in employment discrimination cases if your employer fired you in retaliation for complaining about discrimination.  Contact Litigation, P.C. in Redondo Beach, California to discuss your situation or call (424)284-2401.

Source:

latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-10-24/sony-jeopardy-complaint-discrimination-retaliation