A mysterious email appear to be soliciting new clients for another reverse discrimination lawsuit against CBS Studios.
Earlier this month, CBS Studios and its parent Paramount were sued by Brian Beneker, a script coordinator for SEAL Team.
The lawsuit, filed by the conservative organization America First Legal Foundation, alleged that Beneker was repeatedly denied a staff writer job due to policies in place at CBS Studios which had implemented an "illegal policy of race and sex balancing." According to the paperwork, which was filed in California federal court, Beneker claimed his career was damaged when policies promoted “less qualified applicants who were members of more preferred groups."
Beneker seeks relief that includes damages of at least $500,000, as well as a court order making him a full-time producer on the series. He also asked the court to bar the further use of discriminatory hiring practices at CBS Studios.
The America First Legal Foundation was founded by former Trump White House policy advisor Stephen Miller, who has been an outspoken critic of a range of cultural, gender, and race-based policies. He has also reportedly advocated for a halt to both legal and illegal immigration to the United States.
The lawsuit brought on behalf of Beneker is the latest in a series of similar actions brought by the firm against a wide range of well-known companies, ranging from Starbucks and McDonald's to Morgan Stanley.
When the Beneker lawsuit was filed, there was some speculation that other similar efforts might be coming and an email I've obtained exclusively seems to point to that happening soon.
A former writer on a CBS procedural received an unsolicited email yesterday from someone who identified themselves as working for an unnamed law firm exploring a possible "reverse discrimination" lawsuit. The email asked the recipient if they felt as if their career had been impacted by policies that emphasized "gender, race, and/or sexual orientation" as a hiring priority.
The writer, who asked not to be identified to protect their current career prospects, wasn't sure why they had been contacted, but the email address that the request was sent to suggests the lawyer might be using IMDB contact info as a way of determining who to contact.
Here is the text of the email, with some contact info redacted for the protection of the recipient:
Dear XXXX,
My name is XXXXXX and I am reaching out to you on behalf of a major law firm that is exploring the possibility of filing a legal action against CBS Studios and Paramount Global.
We believe the companies have mistakenly used policies that emphasized "gender, race, and/or sexual orientation" as a hiring priority. Those policies have not only negatively impacted the careers of many talented male, Caucasian writers, but they have also failed to correct the real imbalances that are a reality in Hollywood.
If you have any concerns about these DEI-based guidelines and feel as if your career was impacted by their wrongful use while working on XXXX, please feel free to respond with a phone number and time when we can talk.
There is no obligation or charge for this consultation. I would also encourage you to forward this email to anyone you know who might find it useful.
It's not clear how many people have received one of these emails. It's also not clear if this outreach is directly related to the America First Legal Foundation effort, or if it is coming from another law firm hoping to piggyback on the Beneker lawsuit.
I've reached out to the email address where the solicitation originated, as well as to the America First Legal Foundation. I'll update this story if I get a response.
If you have received an email similar to the one above, or if you have any information related to this story, you can reach out off-the-record to me by email at
