Tubi, and its parent company Fox are the subjects of a new class action lawsuit accusing the streaming service and broadcaster of paying its male employees more than its female workers, allegedly in violation of multiple California labor laws.
Sarah Ekstrom, individually and on behalf of others, has filed a new class action lawsuit in San Francisco County Superior Court on May 18 accusing Fox Corporation, Tubi, Inc. and unnamed others on multiple counts in violation of California labor law, including the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), and the Equal Pay Act (EPA), Retaliation and Whistleblower Retaliation.
According to the complaint, Sarah Ekstrom worked as Tubi’s Chief People Officer at Tubi’s headquarters in San Francisco from approximately February 2022, until her alleged wrongful termination in September.
Almost immediately after starting this role, Ekstrom said she saw some concerning red flags within the organization, allegedly beginning with a conversation involving a former director who had resigned.
In the complaint, Ekstrom asserts this individual told her that the reason for her resignation related to issues with the culture and executive leadership at Tubi, which she compared to an absentee father with no concerns for his children left at home while he travels for work. The complaint indicated those sentiments were allegedly echoed while attending a planning meeting for International Women’s Month, in which several women also claimed women were often dismissed and not supported by the male leadership at Tubi. Some allegedly reported that at least one male executive would actively block some women from being promoted at Tubi.
According to the complaint, in March 2022, Ekstrom asked how she could get more involved in some of the compensation issues she was observing in her new role. Receiving pushback, other executives allegedly indicated they would retain compensation oversight, and they allegedly wanted Ekstrom to keep her focus on onboarding and setting up her team.
As the issues within Tubi and its alleged male-driven executive leadership grew increasingly obvious and Ekstrom raised concerns,she was allegedly told to not question the judgment of executives within the organization, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, those concerns extended to executive salaries. Ekstrom alleges female executives were paid like male colleagues beneath them in the organization, despite purportedly holding more authority. This resulted in women in the C-Suite allegedly earning a fraction of what their male counterparts made, as low as 28%. At other levels of management, pay disparities were also pronounced with female leaders making as little as 61% of their male counterparts’ compensation for the same levels of responsibility, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, Ekstrom said she believed Tubi executives were manipulating financials to create the appearance of a fair and equitable compensation scale for female vs male associates in similar roles with similar functions.
The complaint states that this may not be the first time Tubi executives may have manipulated financials. The complaint asserts that during Fox’s acquisition of Tubi in 2020, executives were allegedly suspected to have manipulated financial data to remove a buy-out option from female employees under the deal.
After allegedly continuing to voice her concerns, Ekstrom alleges in her complaint that she was fired four months later, calling Tubi's treatment of women part of Fox's “toxic culture of treating women as less capable than men.”
In addition to equal pay claims, Ekstrom's lawsuit also accuses Tubi and Fox of gender discrimination, allegedly in violation of FEHA; two counts of unlawful retaliation; unlawful or unfair business practices; and whistleblower retaliation.
Fox Broadcasting acquired Tubi, an extreme content platform and ad-supported streaming service, for a reported $440M. Tubi, which is based in Los Angeles, launched in 2014.
The complaint indicates the lawsuit could be expanded to include a class of as many as 300 female Tubi employees.
Ekstrom is requesting a trial by jury and is seeking actual damages for back pay and unpaid wages at 10% annum, injunctive relief, emotional damages, punitive damages, liquidated damages, court costs and legal fees.
Ekstrom is represented by the attorneys Dustin L. Collier V. Joshua Socks, and Elizabeth R. Malay, of the Collier Law Firm, of Walla Walla, Washington.