A former Paramount executive sued the media giant in California federal court on Friday, claiming age and race discrimination under his former employers’ “DEI goals” and saying he was terminated last year for being a white man in his 50s.
Joseph E. Jerome, who worked at Paramount from 1994 to 2024, served as senior vice president of business and legal affairs and production counsel to “Entertainment Tonight.” His suit claims he was one of three CBS Media Ventures attorneys who, all white and over the age of 50, were terminated and replaced with younger employees from minority groups. Court documents obtained by TheWrap say the terminations came down from EVP of CBS News, CBS Stations and CBS MediaVentures’ business and legal affairs Nicole Harris Johnson, who headed CBS Legal’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) committee.
“Despite his qualifications and extensive experience, Plaintiff was terminated by Paramount in August 2024 under the false pretext of a reduction in force,” the suit reads. “In fact, Plaintiff and others were terminated and replaced with less experienced, younger employees and/or employees of other races.”
In addition to alleging that he was discriminated against, Jerome says that Paramount violated California’s WARN Act by not providing appropriate notice. Jerome is suing for an unspecific amount of damages to be determined at trial.
According to the complaint, Johnson was called attended a November 2023 meeting with former CBS News, Stations and CMV president Wendy McMahon, in which she allegedly complained about the older demographics of the viewership and wanted senior staff to focus on attracting younger viewers and, in order to do so, have younger staff members. Shortly after the meeting, Jerome said he was criticized by Johnson for “thinking old” when discussing a prospective deal after he flagged that a legal term of art was being misused.
The complaint states that he was later replaced by Katelyn Segrest, who is described as a 25-year-old Black law school graduate and ex-CMV intern. Two other two attorneys cited in the documents — David Andriole and Edith Walters — were replaced by Asian employees Jubine David Sadighi and Thu Duong, according to the suit.
The lawsuit notes that both Andriole and Walters’ positions were eliminated due to a corporate restructuring but were retained by Johnson.
Paramount declined TheWrap’s request for comment.
Jerome’s lawsuit comes as CBS Studios previously settled a lawsuit with a script coordinator from “SEAL Team,” who accused Paramount of illegal diversity quotas and discrimination against straight white men.
It also follows the closing of Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount in August, in which they agreed to eliminate DEI policies and initiatives as part of concessions to secure regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Commission.
Additionally, Paramount laid off roughly 1,000 employees last week as part of efforts to exceed $2 billion in cost savings, with additional cuts to come at a later date. The layoffs are expected to impact a total of around 2,000 employees.
