In more DEI news, a federal court in California rejected a former news anchor’s “reverse” discrimination claim against CBS and Paramount Broadcasting, in which he claimed that he was fired due to his race (white). The court found that the mere fact that the anchor’s replacement was Black and that CBS had in place certain diversity initiatives – including a “diverse slate” policy for interviewing (which required the candidate pool to include at least one woman and one person of color) – were not sufficient to show that the anchor’s race was a motivating factor in his termination.
Evidence showed that CBS had concerns about the anchor’s performance for several years and made offers and overtures to other white men for the anchor’s exact position before terminating the anchor and filling the role with a Black man. The court also found that CBS’ diversity initiatives did not support the anchor’s case, because they did not establish any race-based hiring quotas or targets for its news anchors – the “diverse slate” policy only applied to interviewing, not hiring decisions, and expressly required CBS to hire the most qualified candidate, regardless of race, gender or any other protected category.
This decision demonstrates that despite the current political climate and continued “anti-DEI” efforts by the current administration, certain DEI initiatives can still pass muster, as long as they do not impermissibly take race or any other protected category into account when making employment decisions.
You can read the court’s full decision here: vaughn-vs-cbs-summary-judgment.pdf