Lower Court Erred in Not Dismissing Racial Discrimination Suit, Charter Says
The racial discrimination complaint against Charter Communications survives only due to lower court errors, such as not requiring plaintiffs Entertainment Studios Networks (ESN) and National Association of African American Owned Media to plead but-for causation, appellant Charter said in a…
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9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals docket 17-55723 brief (in Pacer) Wednesday. The company is appealing a U.S. District Court 2016 rejection of Charter's bid to have the lawsuit tossed out (see 1610260069). Charter said the complaint must be dismissed on First Amendment grounds since it would have the court judge the cable operator's editorial decisions on network carriage. ESN outside counsel Skip Miller of Miller Barondess said Charter is "making light" of a serious issue of racial discrimination and called the First Amendment defense "a tortured use" of free speech rights. The lower court case is on stay during the appeal, he said.