Biden-Appointed Judge Hands CBS a Win in Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Brought by a Former White Male Anchor

A federal judge has granted CBS Broadcasting Inc. a win in a reverse discrimination lawsuit.CBS implemented some of Hollywood’s most aggressive diversity, equity, and inclusion policies amid the “racial reckoning” after the 2020 killing of George Floyd. But last year, the company announced it was rolling back its diversity policies as its parent company, Paramount, was seeking approval from the Trump Administration to be acquired by Skydance Media. Lawyers for Skydance told the Federal Communications Commission that DEI policies at Paramount and CBS would be eliminated if the deal went through. Still, CBS has faced several reverse discrimination lawsuits. In 2024, a white anchor at KCAL and KCBS at Los Angeles, Jeff Vaughn, sued CBS for $5 million, claiming he was fired because he was a white man. The lawsuit said it was “obvious he was fired because he is an older, white, heterosexual male.”However, this week, a federal judge, Hernan Vera, a Biden appointee, granted summary judgment to CBS, finding that there was “no ‘there’ there” to Mr. Vaughn’s claims that he was fired and replaced by a black man, Chauncey Glover, because he was white. “The evidence does not generate a triable issue of fact as to whether race was a motivating factor,” Judge Vera said. “Vaughn reads racial discrimination into facts that simply do not support that inference, even when viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to him.”Mr. Vaughn insisted that he was not given a specific reason for his termination, but said he was told that it was “not about the ratings.”He also pointed to one network executive, Laurie Orlando, who compared him to Will Ferrell’s character in “Anchorman,” Ron Burgundy. Ms. Orlando later said she made the comparison to say that she felt Mr. Vaughn lacked authenticity.Mr. Vaugh said that other non-white colleagues were not fired despite the fact that they also received negative feedback. CBS insists it chose to replace Mr. Vaughn because it was dissatisfied with his performance. The station’s assistant news director wrote in 2020 that Mr. Vaughn’s “look is good,” but “he has a hard time getting through scripts without flubbing.”Judge Vera wrote, “The mere fact that Glover is black does not support an inference that Vaughn’s race was a motivating factor in his termination given the offers and overtures made to other white men for the very same position before Vaughn’s firing … there is no evidence in the record that Glover’s race was a factor in his hiring to replace Vaughn.”Mr. Vaughn was represented by America First Legal, a conservative firm that represented a white script writer for CBS’s “SEAL Team,” Brian Beneker, who sued the studio for declining to give him a writing job, allegedly because he was white. Mr. Beneker settled with CBS last year. CBS did not comment. America First Legal did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. The multiple reverse discrimination lawsuits have been closely watched to see how executives at Skydance would handle trying to preserve company resources while also fulfilling their promise to eliminate DEI initiatives.There are two other pending lawsuits against CBS for alleged reverse discrimination. A former anchor at WBZ at Boston, Katherine Merrill, sued CBS for $4 million last fall, alleging she was wrongfully accused of “microaggressions” and “implicit bias” and discriminated against because she is white. Meanwhile, Paramount is facing a discrimination lawsuit from a former lawyer, Joseph Jerome, who alleges he was fired because he is over 50 and white.

Biden-Appointed Judge Hands CBS a Win in Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Brought by a Former White Male Anchor

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