{"id":2672,"date":"2020-07-20T13:55:47","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T18:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/?p=2672"},"modified":"2020-07-20T15:20:08","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T20:20:08","slug":"equal-pay-monique-sues-netflix-alleging-comedy-special-offers-were-discriminatory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/equal-pay-monique-sues-netflix-alleging-comedy-special-offers-were-discriminatory\/","title":{"rendered":"EQUAL PAY: Mo\u2019Nique Sues Netflix, Alleging Comedy Special Offers Were Discriminatory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Low-Ball Offer?<\/p>\n

Comedian Mo\u2019Nique has sued Netflix after claiming she was given a \u201cracially and gender biased offer\u201d for a comedy special.<\/p>\n

According to a novel decision on Thursday from a California federal judge, it could be unlawful for a producer to throw out an opening low-ball offer and then not budge when the talent demands more. \u00a0Mo\u2019Nique\u2019s representatives pleaded with Netflix asking, \u201cWhat makes Mo\u2019Nique, who has been labeled a living legend based on her awards from around the world worth $12,500,000 less than Amy Schumer?\u201d Netflix was not persuaded.<\/p>\n

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Judge Andre Birotte Jr. ruled: \u201cMo\u2019Nique plausibly alleges that, after she spoke out and called her initial offer discriminatory, Netflix retaliated against her by shutting down its standard practice of negotiating in good faith that typically results in increased monetary compensation beyond the opening offer, and denying her increased compensation as a result.\u00a0 Accordingly, Plaintiff has sufficiently alleged that Netflix\u2019s alleged failure to negotiate and increase her opening offer by straying from its standard practice are employment actions that are \u2018reasonably likely to adversely and materially affects an employee\u2019s \u2026 opportunity for advancement in \u2026 her career.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision also points out the allegation that Amy Schumer was able to get her own offer increased by $13 million after she pointed to significantly higher compensation being paid to Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock. Mo\u2019Nique received no such luck.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mo\u2019Nique is raising a novel theory in this suit: that an employer\u2019s failure to negotiate an \u2018opening offer\u2019 in good faith, consistent with its alleged customary practice which typically leads to increased compensation, constitutes an \u2018adverse employment action\u2019 for purposes of a retaliation claim.<\/p>\n

While Netflix has argued that the novelty of Mo\u2019Nique\u2019s claim and the absence of on-point legal authority for it should bar her retaliation claims outright, the Court has disagreed.<\/p>\n

Mo\u2019Nique\u2019s attorney, David deRubertis was very pleased with the ruling, stating: \u201cToday\u2019s ruling is an important victory for Hollywood talent, who just like all other workers, need protections against retaliation if they raise concerns about pay discrimination during the hiring process.\u00a0 Employers in the entertainment industry need to take pay discrimination concerns seriously, fix them if the concerns have merit, and never retaliate against those who have the courage to speak up about equal pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is your opinion on this matter? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Low-Ball Offer? Comedian Mo\u2019Nique has sued Netflix after claiming she was given a \u201cracially and gender biased offer\u201d for a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[130,131,80],"tags":[694,823,262,822,161],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2672"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2685,"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions\/2685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/askcarterlaw.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}