Women of Color Who Worked on Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune File Discrimination and Retaliation Complaints Against Sony Pictures
Civil rights and labor complaints allege workers of color at Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune were subjected to years of disturbing and painful racial discrimination and were fired in 2024 for speaking out against racial bias in the workplace and in the shows too.
CONTACTS: Peter Romer-Friedman, Peter Romer-Friedman Law, 202-355-6364, peter@prf-law.com; Hillary Benham-Baker, Benham-Baker Legal, 925-448-4648, hillary@benhambaker.com
October 24, 2024—Today, the highest-ranking Black production executive of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune for the past 25 years and her Latina production colleague filed complaints with California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) alleging that Sony Pictures Entertainment (Sony) engaged in unlawful race, gender, and age discrimination and retaliation against them. And the two workers have filed a related complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging that Sony’s management terminated them and other workers in retaliation for collectively opposing harmful discrimination and toxic working conditions on Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. The complaints are available to media upon request.
The CRD and NLRB complaints, filed by Shelley Ballance Ellis and Monique Diaz allege that workers of color who played critical roles in the production of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune experienced years of agonizing discrimination. Both workers allege they and their colleagues were terminated because they objected to racial discrimination in the workplace, the massive pay inequity Ms. Diaz experienced, the glass ceiling and other bias Ms. Ballance Ellis faced as an older Black woman, the airing of inappropriate footage of Southern plantations on Wheel of Fortune, racist comments and jokes made in Wheel of Fortune’s control room about Black women on the show, and the dismissal of workers’ concerns about racial bias in the Jeopardy! game questions.
In the coming months, California’s CRD and the federal NLRB will investigate Ms. Balance’s Ellis and Ms. Diaz’s allegations of discrimination and retaliation against Sony and determine whether Sony violated their rights when Sony terminated them and denied them other employment opportunities.
Shelley Ballance Ellis and Monique Diaz are represented by Peter Romer-Friedman and David Berman of Peter Romer-Friedman Law PLLC and Hillary Benham-Baker of Benham-Baker Legal. Peter Romer-Friedman Law PLLC and Benham-Baker Legal are public interest law firms that represent workers in civil rights and employment discrimination litigation.
Media
Jessica Guynn & Felecia Wellington Radel, 'Jeopardy', 'Wheel of Fortune' under fire: Game shows hit with race discrimination claims, USA Today (Oct. 24, 2024).
Christi Carras, Former ‘Jeopardy!’ staffers file discrimination, retaliation complaints against Sony, L.A. Times (Oct. 24, 2024).
Hailey Konnath, 'Jeopardy!' Workers Lodge Race, Gender Bias Claims, Law360 (Oct. 24, 2024).
Peter White, Sony, ‘Jeopardy! & ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Hit With Race, Gender & Age Discrimination Complaints, Deadline (Oct. 24, 2024).
Meghan Roos, 'Jeopardy!' and 'Wheel of Fortune' Hit With Race Discrimination Claims by Former Employees, Parade (Oct. 24, 2024).
Darian Lusk, ‘Jeopardy!’ & ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Hit With Discrimination Claims by 2 Longtime Employees, TV Insider (Oct. 24, 2024).
IMDB, ‘Jeopardy!’ & ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Hit With Discrimination Claims by 2 Longtime Employees (Oct. 24, 2024).
