CBS Sued By Former L.A. Anchor Over “Policy Requiring Illegal Quotas For Race And Sex” At News Division

Former Los Angeles TV news anchor Jeff Vaughn is suing CBS over what he alleges is “a policy requiring illegal quotas for race and sex in the hiring of employees at CBS News.”

Vaughn, who for eight years was a primary anchor for evening newscasts at CBS-owned stations KCBS and KCAL, alleges discrimination “based on his race, sex, age, and sexual orientation.” Vaughn claims he was removed from his job because he “was not a member of the defendants’ preferred groups.”

“His ratings were soaring,” the suit alleges (read it here). “There was only one problem: Mr. Vaughn is an older, white, heterosexual, male. Despite his show’s successes, his great performance, and his exceptional working relationship with his co-anchors, CBS removed Mr. Vaughn in place of a younger minority news anchor.”

The new suit follows a similar complaint against CBS made earlier this year in a lawsuit by a staffer on the show SEAL Team, who said he was discriminated against by the company’s diversity equity and inclusion policy. As a recent addition to the fabric of corporate America, DEI has come under increasing assault from conservatives in recent years across the U.S. in a range of sectors. Brian Beneker, a longtime script co-ordinator and freelance writer, backed by former Trump White House advisor Stephen Miller’s nonprofit America First Legal Foundation, is seeking $500,000 in lost wages and a full-time producer gig.

Beneker’s complaint asks a federal judge to issue a declaratory judgment that CBS and parent Paramount Global’s “de facto hiring policy” violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.