A federal judge has denied Netflix’s second motion to dismiss a racial and gender discrimination lawsuit by comedian Mo’Nique, who alleges in the lawsuit that the $ 500,000 the streaming service offered him in 2017 for a special standup “caused Discrimination “and” perpetuated the pay gap suffered by black women “and that their business with Netflix” ended with an act of retaliation on the blacklist. “
“Mo’Nique plausibly claims that, after she spoke up and characterized her initial offer as discriminatory, Netflix retaliated against her by closing her standard practice of negotiating in good faith that generally results in further monetary compensation beyond the” offer. initial “and denying it as a result, judge Andre Birotte Jr. said Wednesday, according to court documents.” While Netflix argues that the novelty of Mo’Nique’s claim and the absence of legal authority on the matter should impede his claims of retaliation. entirely, the court disagrees. “
Deadline first reported on Birotte Jr.’s recent denial of Netflix’s motion to dismiss the Mo’Nique case, allowing the lawsuit to move forward.
“Today’s ruling is a major victory for Hollywood talents who, like all other workers, need protection from retaliation if they express concerns about wage discrimination during the hiring process,” said their attorney, David deRubertis, in a statement. “Entertainment industry employers should take pay discrimination concerns seriously, correct them if they have merit, and never retaliate against those who have the courage to speak up about pay equality.”
In a 2019 lawsuit, the Oscar-winning comedian and actress argues that Netflix approached her “with a low-ball discriminatory offer” compared to her colleagues, particularly those who are white and male.
Despite Mo’Nique’s extensive resume and documented comic success story, when Netflix presented him with a job offer for an exclusive stand-up comedy special, Netflix made a lowball offer that was only a fraction of what Netflix paid others (not black Comedians, “the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit cited offers for other comedians, including alleged $ 70 million, $ 60 million, $ 20 million, and $ 16 million settlements with Eddie Murphy, Dave Chapelle, Ellen DeGeneres, and Jeff Dunham, respectively.
According to the lawsuit, Mo’Nique, whose real name is Monique Hicks, attempted to renegotiate Netflix’s offer, however, Netflix “refused to participate” in a renegotiation process.
After Mo’Nique boycotted Netflix in 2018, a year before she filed a lawsuit against the company, comedian Wanda Sykes said the company had also criticized her.
“@moworldwide, thanks for speaking. @netflix offered me less than half of your $ 500k. It offended me but I found another house,” Sykes tweeted.
Sykes, whose stand-up special “Wanda Sykes: Not Normal” was released by Netflix last year, told Variety that he decided to collaborate with the streaming platform because “they moved that comma.”
Mo’Nique’s attorneys say they are not only pursuing the case on behalf of the comedian, but are addressing the gender pay gap. Black women earn 61 cents for every dollar a white man earns, leading to a lifetime loss of more than $ 2 million, according to the National Women’s Law Center.
“The wage gap for black women cuts across the economic spectrum and affects both low-paid and highly-paid workers,” the lawsuit says. “Unfortunately for Mo’Nique and many other women of color, their challenges in talking about pay inequality are even greater because they face skepticism, not empathy, when they ask for more money.”
Mo’Nique echoed this sentiment in a statement after the lawsuit was filed, saying it was advocating for those who have dealt with wage discrimination.
“I can confirm that today I filed a wage discrimination lawsuit against Netflix,” Mo’Nique wrote on Instagram in November. “I had a choice I could make: I could accept what I felt was salary discrimination or I could defend those who came before me and those who came after me. I chose to defend myself.”
Netflix declined to comment, however, in a statement last year, a spokesperson said the company cares “deeply about inclusion, fairness and diversity” and takes “any allegation of discrimination very seriously.”
“We believe that our offer to open up Mo’Nique was fair, so we will be fighting this demand,” said the spokesman.
