SAN FRANCISCO — Cable giant Charter Communications failed to have dismissed a lawsuit claiming the company declined to carry a channel due to African-American proprietorship.
U.S. Appeals Judge Milan Smith Jr, on the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, issued a 25-page ruling on Nov. 19, affirming the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California's decision to deny the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the National Association of African American-Owned Media (NAAAOM), and Entertainment Studios Networks Inc. against Charter.
NAAAOM and Entertainment Studios sued the cable company alleging that Entertainment Studios was refused a contract because the channel was owned by African Americans.
Entertainment Studios is "a full-service television and motion picture company owned by Byron Allen, an African-American actor, comedian, and entrepreneur," the court ruling said.
The company serves "as both a producer of television series and an operator of television networks, and currently operates seven channels and distributes thousands of hours of programming," it said.
The entertainment company, like most networks, rely on "carriage contracts" for the channels to be shown on various cable and satellite platforms. Even though Entertainment Studios secured deals with most major carriers, it was not able to strike a deal with Charter.
From 2011 to 2016, Entertainment Studios attempted to negotiate a contract with Charter, but the company's senior vice president of programming, Allan Singer, "declined to meet with Entertainment Studios representatives or consider its channels for carriage," the ruling said.
NAAAOM and Entertainment Studios "alleged that, instead of engaging in a meaningful discussion regarding a potential carriage contract, Singer and Charter repeatedly refused, rescheduled, and postponed meetings, encouraging Entertainment Studios to exercise patience and proffering disingenuous explanations for its refusal to contract," the ruling said.
The plaintiffs said that white-owned networks, such as Walt Disney and Time Warner, had in the meantime quickly secured deals with Charter.
NAAAOM and Entertainment Studios filed the suit on Jan. 27, 2016, claiming that Charter violated Section 1981 of the U.S. Code, FCC regulations and the Fifth Amendment due process clause.
Charter, meanwhile, argued that comments made by Singer and the company's CEO, Tom Rutledge, were protected by First Amendment rights.
In his appeals court ruling, Judge Smith affirmed the district court decision denying Charter's motion to dismiss, stating that the First Amendment argument put forward by the cable company "does not bar Plaintiffs’ § 1981 claim."
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Case number 17-55723