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The DEI wars ravaging Red State America have made their long-awaited arrival in Hollywood. With the support of one of Donald Trump’s closest collaborators, a seal equipment A staff member filed a discrimination lawsuit against CBS and Paramount Global alleging that he was denied a writing position on the show because he is a straight white man.
“The defendants did not hire or promote Mr. Beneker because of his race, sex and heterosexuality,” the former claims. seal equipment reads script coordinator and freelance writer Brian Beneker. Beneker says in the complaint that he seeks a jury trial that he has suffered for not being part of “favored hiring groups; that is, they were not white, LGBTQ or women,” and the “illegal policy” of diversity, equity and inclusion measures increasingly under attack.
Click to read Beneker’s discrimination lawsuit, which was filed last week in U.S. District Court in California.
In fact, Beneker states in 2019 that he directly asked the current seal equipment Showrunner Spencer Hudnut why previous showrunner John Glenn had hired a man as a writer after Glenn told him that “there were already too many writers and there was no room for CBS to hire him.”
“Hudnut indicated it was because he was black,” the complaint states, without presenting additional evidence.
“This balance policy has created a situation where white, straight men need ‘additional’ qualifications (including military experience or prior writing credits) to be hired as writers compared to their non-white, LGBTQ, or female peers, who “They do not require such additional qualifications,” the document adds, while attacking editorial assistants and other people who had been promoted.
While continuing his work as a script coordinator, Beneker wrote three episodes of the David Boreanaz-directed series in 2019. He reportedly has another set to air as the eighth episode of the series’ upcoming seventh and final season. In production, the script for the seventh season was co-written by seal equipment co-EP Dana Greenblatt, a woman.
In that context, the lawsuit filed by Beneker on February 29 seeks $500,000 in alleged lost wages and “an injunction compelling defendants to offer plaintiff a full-time job as a producer.”
Backed by former Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller’s America First Legal Foundation nonprofit, Beneker also wants the federal court to issue a declaratory ruling that CBS and Paramount’s “de facto hiring policy” Global violates…the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Additionally, it wants a “permanent injunction restraining defendants from violating applicable anti-discrimination laws.”
Now let’s put some real politics on the table.
Money is one thing, as are the other claims for help in Beneker’s grievance-filled battle against Paramount Global’s so-called “balance policy.” However, he is almost certain to fall short of landing a writing position at seal equipment: The series, now in full production, will end next year after its upcoming seventh season on Paramount+. That means the show will be done and dusted long before Beneker’s case goes to trial, much less gets a verdict.
But Beneker and his lawyers at the America First Legal Foundation know this, and that’s not the real goal in what is clearly another culture war fired at Tinseltown in an election year. Most likely, the real goal is to score points against the source of some of the Democrats’ biggest donations and energize the MAGA base.
Criticized in the 12-page complaint for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with their corporate inclusion and representation policies, CBS and Paramount Global declined to comment on Beneker’s action today. If they do, this post will be updated.
Deadline also reached out to Hudnut’s agency CAA for a statement regarding the comments and implications attributed to the industry vet in Brenker’s lawsuit. When we hear from you, we will also update this post.
Beneker has worked on seal equipment since 2017 and before that he was script coordinator at Sons of anarchy, gone and other shows.
To tell us where this is coming from and going, Beneker is represented by the San Diego firm JW Howard Attorneys and the America First Legal Foundation.
Since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action policies in college and university admissions last year, AFLF has been filing lawsuits against companies like Starbucks, Morgan Stanley and other companies in an attempt to end inclusionary practices.
Specifically for the entertainment industry, AFLF sued the owners of Facebook Meta, the Association of Independent Producers, and advertising agency BBDO on behalf of James Harker. The electrician, a white man, claims he was denied work and promotions because of ACIP’s Double the Line policy, which aims to promote Black, Indigenous and people of color workers to leadership positions.
This last case is ongoing.