|
 The nine justices unanimously sent the case back to the San
Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider
whether Allen's claims that his failure to land a deal for
Comcast to carry channels that he owned was due to racial
discrimination were enough to let the case proceed. Allen is
black.
The justices ruled that the 9th Circuit assessed Allen's claims
using the wrong test. "To prevail, a plaintiff must initially
plead and ultimately prove that, but for race, it would not have
suffered," conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, an appointee of
President Donald Trump, wrote for the court.
Allen sued Comcast in 2015 in federal court in Los Angeles,
making claims under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a post-Civil
War law that forbids racial discrimination in business
contracts. It requires all people to have the same right to make
and enforce contracts "as is enjoyed by white citizens."
Comcast, backed by Trump's administration in the case, refused
to carry channels operated by Entertainment Studios, owned by
Allen.
Allen called the ruling harmful to the civil rights of millions
of Americans.
"This is a very bad day for our country," Allen said in a
statement. "We will continue our fight by going to Congress and
the presidential candidates to revise the statute to overcome
this decision by the United States Supreme Court."
Comcast argued that a plaintiff must show early on in a case
that a contract was denied solely because of racism or the
lawsuit must be tossed. The 9th Circuit ruled last year that
lawsuits may proceed if plaintiffs can show that discriminatory
intent was one factor among others in denial of a contract.
'PROUD OF OUR RECORD'
Comcast said it was pleased with the ruling and hopes the 9th
Circuit will dismiss Allen's case.
"We are proud of our record on diversity and will not rest on
this record," Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said in a
statement.
[to top of second column] |
Comcast has said it rejected Allen's channels due to capacity
constraints, not race, and that Allen's channels - which include
Cars.TV and Comedy.TV - did not show sufficient promise or customer
demand to merit distribution. Allen's company acquired the widely
available Weather Channel TV network in 2018, after the case had
begun.
Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law, said, "No doubt, this ruling may shut the courthouse door
on some discrimination victims who, at the complaint stage, may
simply be without the full range of evidence needed to meet the
court's tougher standard."
Liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined Monday's ruling but wrote
that when the 9th Circuit reassesses the case, "if race indeed
accounts for Comcast's conduct, Comcast should not escape liability
for injuries inflicted during the contract-formation process."
Allen's similar suit filed against Charter Communications in 2016
will be guided by Monday's Comcast ruling.
Allen primarily blamed racial discrimination for the rejections,
accusing cable executives of giving insincere or invalid excuses and
granting contracts to white-owned networks during the same period.
Other distributors, including Verizon Communications Inc, AT&T Inc
and DirecTV, carried some of Allen's programming at the time, court
papers said.
The court issued this ruling and three others online due to
coronavirus pandemic rather than its usual practice of having the
justices announce opinions in their courtroom.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
