Fortune By Greg Stohr and Bloomberg June 10, 2019
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider making it harder to press some types of civil rights suits, agreeing to hear an appeal from cable television provider Comcast Corp. in a clash with a black-owned media company.
Comcast is attempting to stop a lawsuit by Entertainment Studios Networks Inc., which says racial discrimination is the reason it couldn’t get its channels onto the carrier’s cable systems. A federal appeals court let the suit go forward.
At issue is a provision known as Section 1981, a Reconstruction-era law that bars racial discrimination in contracting. Comcast says the appeals court improperly made it easier to sue under that statute than under other civil rights laws.
Entertainment Studios, owned by comedian and producer Byron Allen, says it tried for years to get its channels carried by Comcast. The suit alleges that Comcast officials refused to reach a deal, even while expanding offerings of lesser-known, white-owned channels. Entertainment Studios is pressing a similar suit against Charter Communications Inc.
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http://fortune.com/2019/06/10/comcast-racial-discrimination/
