Fired producer sues CNN for discrimination
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An award-winning black and Latino producer for CNN who was terminated in January has filed an age, race, ancestry and disability discrimination lawsuit against the network seeking a $5 million judgment.
Stanley Wilson, 51, was hired by CNN, a unit of Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System Inc., in 1996, and over the course of his career received more than two dozen journalism awards, including Emmy awards, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday in Stanley Wilson v. Cable News Network, Inc.
However, according to the lawsuit, his immediate supervisor, Peter Janos, who is vice president and bureau chief of the CNN Western region, “never liked plaintiff and never wanted him at the bureau because of plaintiff's protected characteristics, including his race, color and ancestry, among other things.”
Mr. Wilson says in his lawsuit that Mr. Janos was named bureau chief in 2004 and after 2003 Mr. Wilson was never promoted again, although he applied unsuccessfully for a dozen different job openings at CNN. His lawsuit states that Mr. Janos “always quietly intervened so that plaintiff was never chosen for those job openings.”
Mr. Wilson was terminated by CNN after a dispute over “three sentences, or parts of three sentences,” in a single story, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states he was not given the customary separation pay of two weeks' salary for each year of service, which is normally provided to department employees upon leaving, according to his complaint. He states also he was replaced with a less experienced Caucasian employee who is under 40.
His lawsuit charges CNN with discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination, among other charges.
A Turner spokeswoman had no comment.
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