A US district judge has rejected the CBS studio’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former member of the SEAL Team The editor claimed he was denied employment and job opportunities in favor of less qualified applicants from “privileged” groups, i.e. non-whites, LGBTQ and women.
In a ruling Wednesday, Judge John F. Walter denied CBS’s motion, saying that “the court concludes that the issues raised by the defendant are better resolved by a motion for summary judgment” rather than oral arguments, putting a jury trial on hold for now.
Brian Beneker, a former script coordinator and freelance writer for the CBS crime series, filed the civil suit in February in the Central District of California. Beneker, a white man, claimed he was not hired or promoted “because of his race, gender and heterosexuality,” citing the “illegal policies” of the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion measures in his argument.
“This compensatory policy has created a situation in which heterosexual, white men require ‘additional’ qualifications (including military experience or prior writing experience) to be hired as staff writers, compared to their non-white, LGBTQ, or female counterparts who do not require such ‘additional’ qualifications,” the filing states.
The lawsuit seeks $500,000 for alleged lost wages and “an injunction requiring defendants to offer plaintiff a full-time position as a producer.” It also caught the attention of former Donald Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller’s nonprofit America First Legal Foundation, which is co-representing the plaintiff.
CBS Studios and parent company Paramount Global, listed as defendants alongside CBS Entertainment Group, filed their motion to dismiss in June, arguing that the First Amendment allows CBS to select the “most suitable” writers for its shows.
Holding CBS liable for the failure to hire “would prevent CBS from hiring the storytellers CBS believes are best suited to tell the stories CBS wants to produce and broadcast,” the motion states. “Granting Beneker compensation would jeopardize CBS’s ability to tell on its own terms.”
A date for summary judgment has not yet been set.
The seventh and final season of SEAL Team launched on August 11th on Paramount+.
Ted Johnson contributed to this report.
