A biracial former CBS Studios Inc. post-production assistant has reached a tentative settlement in his retaliation/discrimination lawsuit in which the plaintiff alleged that a Black supervisor made “despicable, racist and discriminatory” comments in the workplace about non-Black individuals and told the plaintiff that he was “not black enough.”
Travious Imari Hall maintained in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that management took no corrective steps after he complained and that he was instead fired in retaliation in 2023. Hall’s attorney filed court papers on Thursday with Judge Virginia Keeny notifying her of a “conditional” resolution in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be brought by June 7. No terms were divulged.
In their previous court papers, CBS attorneys denied Hall’s allegations, said they were barred by the statute of limitations and contended that any actions taken against Hall were done for “legitimate, non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory business reasons.”
Hall was hired by CBS in August 2021. On a daily basis, a Black supervisor, Yasmin Coleman, “openly made racist, discriminatory and derogatory comments to and/or about non-African-American individuals, including white, Hispanic and mixed-race individuals such as plaintiff” while constantly telling Hall that he was “not Black enough,” the suit stated.
Coleman said such things as “He don’t remember he Black,” “I don’t have to laugh at corny white conversations” and “I need real `n…z’ ’round me,” according to the suit.
Coleman also harassed Hall by sending him pornography, the suit stated.
“The more plaintiff resisted defendant Coleman’s behavior, the worse it became,” the suit filed in January 2024 further stated.
After Hall complained, the plaintiff was excluded from meetings and isolated and then fired in May 2023, the suit stated.