CBS has settled a discrimination lawsuit filed by Brian Beneker, a script coordinator, who claimed he was denied a writing job on “SEAL Team” because he is white.
Beneker alleged that CBS’ diversity hiring goals — which at the time included achieving 50 percent representation for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) writers by 2022-23 — amounted to an illegal quota.
No terms of the settlement were disclosed. Paramount Global — CBS’s parent company — recently rescinded its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, saying in a memo that it would no longer “set or use aspirational numerical goals related to the race, ethnicity, gender or sexuality of hires.”
Beneker is backed by America First Legal, an advocacy group led by White House counsel Stephen Miller that has sought to invalidate DEI policies in the private sector.
The deal with Beneker does not entail any changes to diversity policies, a source said.
Paramount Global is currently seeking approval from the Trump administration for a merger with Skydance Media. The Federal Communications Commission has investigated Paramount over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, which Trump and his supporters say was edited in a misleading way. That investigation could block the FCC from approving the merger. Trump has also sued the company for $20 billion over the Harris interview.
The FCC has also investigated DEI policies at Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, and at Disney.
Beneker’s lawsuit survived CBS’s motion to dismiss, as Judge John Walter concluded that the company’s objections would be better suited to a summary judgment motion. Instead of going that route — which would involve more disclosure and discovery — the parties opted to settle, after conciliating with a retired judge in December. America First Legal also represents Jeff Vaughn, a former KCAL and KCBS anchor who sued CBS Broadcasting on similar grounds last year. That case is still pending and is scheduled for trial in March 2026.
CBS declined to comment. In its motion to dismiss, the company argued that the First Amendment gives it broad authority to hire anyone it wants for creative roles. The settlement does not resolve that legal question. But in another case, Disney has made similar arguments to defend its firing of Gina Carano, the “Mandalorian” actress accused of disrespecting the Holocaust in a social media post. Carano filed a lawsuit alleging she was wrongfully fired in retaliation for unpopular political activity.
U.S. District Court Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett denied Disney’s motion to dismiss Carano’s lawsuit last year, finding that the First Amendment does not provide a general defense. That case is also pending, with a trial scheduled for February of next year.
