CBS and parent Paramount Global are being accused of “blatant” discrimination against a white, heterosexual male freelance writer as it imposed stringent diversity rules for writers on its “SEAL Team” series, according to a federal lawsuit.
Brian Beneker, a script coordinator and freelance scriptwriter for CBS’ “SEAL Team,” was unlawfully denied a staff writer position due to his race, sex and sexual orientation, according to the complaint, filed Thursday in US District Court of Central California.
Beneker, who became the script coordinator in 2017 on the pilot episode of “SEAL Team,” a drama about the pressure on a group of Navy SEALs, soon was offered to write an episode script as a freelancer for the show’s second season.
To continue as a scriptwriter, Beneker was told, he had to quit his job as a coordinator, the suit said, noting that he was replaced by “a woman without any experience as a script coordinator” who “struggled to do the job” and “quit approximately two weeks into training.”
Beneker’s lawyers from America First Legal Foundation and JW Howard Attorneys cited a widely reported mandate from CBS chief executive George Cheeks to “set a goal that all writers’ rooms on the network’s primetime series be staffed 40% [with] BIPOC [black, indigenous and people of color] in the 2021-2022 season.”
CBS raised the requirement to 50% BIPOC writers in the 2022-2023 season of TV, and a requirement of 50% of cast members on their reality shows to be BIPOC, court papers said, noting that the hiring policies are shared across Paramount Global.
The suit comes amid continued uproar over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies within the entertainment industry, and alleges that Beneker was passed over in favor of less qualified candidates who ticked the diversity boxes.
America First Legal Foundation, which was formed by former Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller, posted on X late Thursday: “We just sued CBS in federal court for allegedly engaging in blatant anti-white discrimination in violation of federal law. America First Legal will fight to hold the entertainment giant accountable for its lawless and bigoted conduct.”
Beneker took up his old coordinator job for Season 2 and he claims was called by the CBS creative executive’s office to confirm that a specific writer for the show “was or appeared to be Asian.”
At the time, Beneker asked showrunner John Glenn to hire him as a writer, and he was told there were too many writers already, but court papers claim that Glenn hired a “black male who had no previous writing credits and little substantial experience.”
Glenn was replaced by Spencer Hudnut in 2019 and Beneker asked the new boss why CBS hired the black male writer. Hudnut allegedly “indicated it was because he was black.”
Meanwhile, Beneker wrote the finale of Season 3, “No Choice in Duty,” as a freelancer, and was told by Hudnut that he was “next in line for a staff writer position,” the suit said.
When Season 4 began, however, Beneker was told by the boss that they couldn’t offer him a job, and a female writer’s assistant with no writing credits was assigned a freelance script.
She would be offered a staff writer job in Season 5.
The following season, Beneker co-wrote another script, but was passed over again for a full time writing job in favor of two relatively novice female writers, one who was black and the other who identified as lesbian.
Hudnut told Beneker the new hires “checked diversity boxes” that he did not, the lawsuit said.
“Defendants have implemented an illegal policy of race and sex ‘balancing’ in the SEAL Team writer’s room,” court papers said.
“This balancing policy has created a situation where heterosexual, white men need ‘extra’ qualifications (including military experience or previous writing credits) to be hired as staff writers when compared to their nonwhite, LGBTQ, or female peers, who require no such ‘extra’ qualifications,” the suit added.
Beneker is suing for more than $500,000 in lost wages and benefits and other damages, as well as a permanent injunction barring the media giant from violating nondiscrimination laws.
He is also looking for a full-time job as a producer, and a judgment from the court that the company’s hiring policies violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
CBS and Paramount didn’t respond to requests for comment.
