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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA federal judge has ruled that a racial discrimination lawsuit filed against AT&T by Circle City Broadcasting, which owns WISH-TV Channel 8 and WNDY-TV Channel 23, can move forward as the two companies battle over retransmission fees.
However, Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt granted AT&T’s request to dismiss a portion of the lawsuit that accused the company of defaming Circle City and its owner DuJuan McCoy, who is Black.
Regarding the discrimination claim, the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis ruled Wednesday that Circle City has “pled enough factual information to present, at the very least, a circumstantial case for intentional discrimination.”
The court said AT&T, in its request for dismissal, was asking too much by seeking to have the court begin determining the veracity of Circle City’s discrimination claims at this early stage of the litigation. The ruling said the issue at this point is not whether the plaintiff would prevail, but whether it is entitled to offer evidence to support its claims.
Circle City’s lawsuit, filed in August 2020, says the case is the result of AT&T refusing to negotiate a contract with Circle City because the stations in question are now owned by a Black man. “AT&T only deals fairly with historically more established broadcasters (namely, white-owned) when negotiating carriage agreements,” the lawsuit alleges.
AT&T has vehemently denied the allegations. “Circle City sued as a negotiating tactic only after we declined its demands for compensation above and beyond what similar independent stations receive,” AT&T said in a written statement last year.
McCoy has said AT&T offered his company “zero” for the retransmission of its stations on AT&T’s Uverse and DirecTV cable and satellite services.
AT&T told IBJ last year that the company applies “a non-discriminatory approach to these negotiations that ensures consistency and fairness while keeping fees low for our customers.”
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Good news! Can only hope 8 wins and we can see it again on the AT&T networks.
Woke 8 shouts racist for more pay. smh
Im not sure I totally understand what’s going on here but I just hope the courts rule fairly and that an example is set to show companies discrimination isn’t tolerated on any level as well as any false discrimination claims to mislead the courts for bias gains on race.A balancing of the law needs to be applied here.
Which reporter from IBJ wrote this trash? AT&T is just as “woke” as the rest of Corporate America. They wouldn’t negotiate with a black man? Are you kidding me? Race has NOTHING to do with this. AT&T just negotiates historically with white broadcasters when negotiating carriage agreements according to Circle City’s lawsuit.
This lawsuit is about business and nothing more. IBJ….the new ESPN.
ATT bankrolls far right media like Newsmax. That’s far from “woke”.
The issue could just simply be that the products being negotiated, channels 8 (the CW) and 23 (Indy TV) are far inferior to the other channels out there, therefore they are being asked to take less of a re-broadcast fee. Channel 8 lost their network affiliation either right before or right after the most recent acquisition, but that is of no consideration to AT&T. Ask yourself this, when was the last time you went to channel 8 or 23 to see specific show!? For me, the only time I might have stopped on either channel was when I was surfing by and 23 had a high school sports game on.