X CASEY STERN, : : Claimant, : CHARGE of : DISCRIMINATION V
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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION ATLANTA DISTRICT OFFICE --------------------------------------------X CASEY STERN, : : Claimant, : CHARGE OF : DISCRIMINATION v. : : WARNERMEDIA, LLC : : & : : TURNER SPORTS, INC., : : Respondents. : --------------------------------------------X PRELIMINARY STATEMENT 1. Over the course of the last two years, Casey Stern has been put through his own personal hell, the likes of which no person should ever be forced to endure. 2. Beginning in about December 2018 and persisting through February 2020, Mr. Stern’s three young children were subjected to heinous child abuse at the hands of their own mother, Mr. Stern’s ex-wife Shanon Stern, as well as Ms. Stern’s boyfriend, Alexander Soriano. 3. Mr. Stern’s three children, who were all younger than 4 years old at the time the abuse commenced, were systematically beaten, tortured, and emotionally abused. Among other criminal acts, the children were subjected to alternating hot and cold baths that literally constituted torture, “spanked” across the face, and punched in the stomach. In one particularly disturbing incident one of the children had an accident and Mr. Soriano instructed this child to drink his/her own urine off the floor. The abuse became so prevalent and vicious that the children began wearing backpacks around the house in preparation to run away. 4. Faced with an apathetic court system and an initially apathetic Special Victims Unit (“SVU”) investigator, Mr. Stern was forced to become his own investigator and spent much of his time gathering evidence of the abuse in an effort to save his children. In doing so, he often put himself in harm’s way as he crossed paths with the violent and dangerous Mr. Soriano. Thanks in large part to his own investigative work, as well as the assistance of a court appointed guardian, Ms. Stern and Mr. Soriano were finally arrested on February 28, 2020 and charged with a combined 15 felonies. Ms. Stern was charged with four counts of second-degree child cruelty and six counts of reckless endangerment. Mr. Soriano was charged with five counts of first-degree child cruelty. 5. Those who know Mr. Stern know him not for the ordeal he and his children have endured, but rather as one of the faces of Turner Sports, Inc. (“Turner”). For the past six years, Mr. Stern has worked for Turner and its parent company, WarnerMedia, LLC (“WarnerMedia”) (“WarnerMedia and Turner, together, the “Company”), in various capacities, but most often as a studio host. 6. Mr. Stern began working for the Company as a studio host for TBS’s coverage of the Major League Baseball (“MLB”) postseason in 2014. He performed so well in that role that the Company began to utilize him in its coverage of the National Basketball Association (“NBA”) and the National Collegiate Basketball Association (“NCAA”) men’s college basketball. He continued to work his way up the ranks, leapfrogging several other studio hosts to become the number one studio host on NBA TV and the number two studio host overall in the entire Company, behind only the well-regarded Ernie Johnson. 7. Given his stellar performance and years of dedication, as well as the nature of when he was going through, Mr. Stern understandably expected that the Company would be sympathetic and accommodating when it came to his efforts to save his children. The exact 2 opposite occurred. Indeed, the Company was displeased with even the smallest of accommodations requested by Mr. Stern in connection with his childcare responsibilities. 8. In one particularly offensive incident, John O’Connor, NBA TV’s Executive Producer, responded to an accommodation request by suggesting that Mr. Stern was using his children – who were being beaten by his ex-wife and her boyfriend – as an “excuse” to avoid work assignments. Specifically, Mr. O’Connor said, “When are you going to stop using this” family situation as an excuse? 9. During a separate incident, Olivia Scarlett, Turner’s Director of Talent Relations, insensitively told Mr. Stern, who was seeking an accommodation in connection with his childcare responsibilities, “A lot of us have nanny issues.” 10. These statements, which are only examples, make clear that the Company believed that Mr. Stern, as a man, was expected to place his job above his family – regardless of the fact that Mr. Stern’s children were the victims of severe domestic abuse. 11. However, insensitive and discriminatory comments were unfortunately the least of the unlawful conduct to which Mr. Stern was subjected by the Company. Indeed, as anyone who watches Turner programming knows, Mr. Stern has slowly been phased out of programming over the past two years. One by one, his responsibilities were diminished and taken away from him. This was only exacerbated by the recent pandemic when Mr. Stern requested health related accommodations to ensure that he remained healthy and able to care for his children. 12. Most recently, in September 2020, Mr. Stern was informed that he was being fired as the host of Turner’s 2020 MLB postseason coverage and that his contract would not be renewed this coming August. To make matters worse, the Company has informed Mr. Stern 3 that, even though it will not be using him for anything anymore, he is not be permitted to seek work in his chosen field until August 2021 (when his contract expires) unless he releases the Company of liability for its unlawful conduct. 13. The Company’s cruelty cannot be overstated, nor is it an isolated incident. Rather, the treatment of Mr. Stern \is just the latest example of what has become commonplace practice at WarnerMedia and its subsidiaries. 14. In just the last year alone, two WarnerMedia brands – The Ellen DeGeneres Show and TMZ – have been singled out for, among other things: verbal abuse, racism, misogyny, intimidation, and poor treatment of crews during the COVID-19 production shutdown. 15. The misconduct was so widespread and ubiquitous that, on October 16, 2020, WarnerMedia’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), Jason Kilar, felt compelled to send a Company-wide memo addressing the toxic culture: I’ve come to the conclusion that one of the most important things I’d like people to say about us when we are not in the room is that we treat people with dignity. What does it mean to treat a person with dignity? At a minimum, I believe it entails a responsibility to validate, to recognize, and to include. Finally, I believe it entails a commitment to fairness and a commitment to maintaining a safe environment for all . We will not be tolerating patterns of behavior that are at odds with our need to treat each other with dignity. 16. It is evident, from the facts set forth below that the Company’s treatment of Mr. Stern failed to meet even the Company’s “minimum” threshold of dignity. FACTS I. BACKGROUND A. Mr. Stern’s Employment with WarnerMedia and Turner Sports 17. After a successful business career working on Wall Street, Mr. Stern embarked on a career as a sports broadcaster – his dream job. 4 18. Early in his broadcasting career, Mr. Stern worked for AOL, MLB.com, and Madison Square Garden (“MSG”) hosting a variety of shows. 19. Mr. Stern began working as a radio host for Sirius Satellite Radio in 2008. It was in his capacity as a radio host wit Sirius that Mr. Stern first caught the attention of Turner executives. 20. In 2014, Turner recruited Mr. Stern after Craig Barry, Turner’s then-Senior Vice President of Production, became “fascinated” with Mr. Stern’s baseball radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio. Mr. Barry was particularly impressed at how well Mr. Stern managed his show and noted that Mr. Stern conducted interesting interviews. 21. Mr. Barry told several other executives at the Company to listen to Mr. Stern’s show. They did so and were impressed. 22. After hiring Mr. Stern, Mr. Barry stated, “If Ernie Johnson sets the bar as a studio host, Casey Stern is someone we thought could potentially fit in that same mold.” 23. Mr. Stern was ultimately hired to work as a studio host for Turner’s MLB postseason coverage. 24. Mr. Stern performed exceptionally well in this role and Turner began to utilize him in other roles, including Turner’s basketball coverage. 25. In 2016, Turner signed Mr. Stern to a contract that ran from August 31, 2016 through August 30, 2019 (the “Contract”). The Contract was extended for two years in August 2019 and runs through August 30, 2021 (the “Extension”). 26. During the period of the Contract and Extension, Mr. Stern established himself as one of the top studio hosts in the business and was entrusted with some of the Company’s most important events, including coverage of: (i) the MLB postseason; (ii) the NCAA March Madness 5 tournament; (iii) the NBA draft; (iv) the NBA’s All-Star game and related events; (v) the NBA Finals tournament; (vi) the NBA trade deadline; and (vii) the NBA’s free agency period. 27. Mr. Stern also worked his way up the ranks to become the number one studio host for NBA TV, where he worked several nights per week as a studio host, and the Company’s number two studio host overall behind only the well-regarded Mr. Johnson. 28. Mr. Stern is a tireless worker and, in addition to his studio hosting duties, he also fulfilled several other functions for the Company. Notably, Mr. Stern created, wrote and hosted “Three Point Revolution,” an award-winning mini-series documentary about the NBA’s three- point shot. 29. Mr. Stern was also asked to do (and did) play-by-play on NBA TV for one nationally broadcast game per week.