A California federal judge dismissed a discrimination lawsuit against Netflix from Mo'Nique Hicks, who claimed the streaming giant gave her a lowball offer that was a result of gender and racial discrimination. According to The Hollywood Reporter, U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. granted Netflix’s motion to dismiss Hicks’ retaliation claims. Birotte reportedly concluded that Hicks had not adequately shown that Netflix’s refusal to change their offer, after she publicly blasted the deal, amounted to retaliation. The judge, however, is giving Hicks a chance to change her claims. “The Court notes that Plaintiff raises a novel theory here, namely that failure to negotiate constitutes an ‘adverse employment action’ for purposes of a retaliation claim,” Birotte wrote. “In light of the arguments that Plaintiff raised orally before the Court, the Court allows Plaintiff leave to amend her retaliation claims and to file a First Amended Complaint adding facts in support thereof.”
Netflix’s efforts to strike portions of Hicks’ lawsuit were partially granted and partially denied. Birotte didn’t strike down the part of the lawsuit that mentioned a pay disparity for black women and a part that mentioned a Netflix executive getting fired for using a racial slur in a meeting. He did strike down a portion of Hicks’ lawsuit that mentioned Kevin Spacey’s alleged racism on the House of Cards set.
Read it at The Hollywood Reporter
