Blaze Media reported that Paramount Global agreed to end its diversity, equality, and inclusion hiring policies after a script supervisor sued CBS, alleging racial bias and quota-based hiring.
Paramount Global, along with its subsidiary CBS, has ended its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), including hiring quotas based on race, after a lawsuit was filed by a script supervisor, who claimed that he had been denied promotions for not meeting the diversity criteria.
America First Legal represented Brian Beneker in a February lawsuit. He worked on Paramount+’s original series, “SEAL Team.” The complaint claimed that CBS and Paramount had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1965 by setting up discriminatory hiring standards based on gender, race, and sexual orientation.
Beneker’s suit cited statements made by CBS President and CEO George Cheeks, who declared that he wanted 40% of CBS’s writers to be non-white. This goal, it was reported, had been increased to 50% by the 2022-23 television season.
Cheeks played a major role in the implementation of CBS’s policies. He was recognized publicly as CBS’s black, biracial, and gay president.
According to the lawsuit, 17 of CBS’s 21 shows achieved or exceeded the original diversity target. Beneker claimed, however, that these practices unfairly prevented him from advancing, despite his qualifications.
He claimed that six writers, described as “black women or gays” in the complaint, were hired even though they had little experience or no writing credits. Beneker was told by the showrunner that he had not “checked any diversity boxes” when he asked why he wasn’t hired.
America First Legal, in response to the lawsuit, reported that Paramount had ceased to set numerical goals based on race, ethnicity, or gender for hiring. The company also stopped collecting applicant demographic data and has removed the 5% funding bonus that was previously given to programs that advanced DEI goals.
Nick Barry, America First Legal, said that CBS Studios and Paramount Global have settled a lawsuit America First Legal filed on behalf of Brian Beneker. “America First Legal welcomes the public renunciation of Paramount’s and CBS’s DEI requirements, and their return to merit-based hiring. Diversity quotas that discriminate based on race are illegal. Others in the entertainment industry need to take note.”
Beneker agreed to dismiss all of his claims after a settlement was reached with the companies. Specific terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.
This follows President Donald Trump’s March directive to remove DEI policies in the US Foreign Service. The memo, which aims to restore merit-based hiring, prohibits the use of race, gender, or any other personal characteristics when making employment decisions. It also instructs agencies on how to reverse Biden’s DEI-linked promotions standards.
The Trump administration has claimed that these reforms were necessary to “restore equity” in hiring, and realign the federal employment system with principles like “individual dignity”, “hard work,” and “excellence.”