LOS ANGELES (CN) — Former CBS news anchor Jeff Vaughn sued the broadcaster for $5 million on Monday, claiming he was fired from CBS and replaced because of his age, race, gender and sexual orientation.
"Despite his show’s successes, his great performance, and his exceptional relationship with his co-anchors, CBS removed Mr. Vaughn in place of a minority news anchor because he was an experienced, older white, heterosexual, male," according to Vaughn in his complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court.
Vaughn, 58, worked for CBS Broadcasting for 8 years, and he was the evening anchor for the KCBS 5 p.m., KCAL 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts.
In May of 2022, Vaughn says, the general manager at CBS News Los Angeles told him he would not be working at CBS in six months and that he was going to be replaced. According to Vaughn — who says in the suit he has over 30 years of experience in broadcast journalism — the network's management didn't give him a direct reason for his removal from his job but told him “it’s not about the ratings.”
The reason he lost his job, Vaughn claims in his suit, is that CBS wants to increase the diversity of its staff and has implemented a policy "that favored the hiring of individuals of certain groups and firing or refusing to hire older, white, heterosexual, males."
Representatives of CBS didn't immediate respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
When Wendy McMahon became president of CBS News and Stations in 2021, Vaughn claims, the network's efforts to diversify its newsrooms went into high gear.
Her goals were clear, according to Vaughn. CBS News and Stations "prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, hired and promoted several women and/or people of color to serve in key roles," he says, citing McMahon's company biography.
Vaughn claims that he was frequently excluded from various charity events throughout 2021 and 2022, and that they refused to include him in CBS's 9/11 20th anniversary special despite his personal experience covering the event in Manhattan.
"A reasonable person would assume that his experience would be invaluable to the special and that CBS would embrace it," Vaughn said in the suit. "But Mr. Vaughn was told that his experience would make others uncomfortable. Why, was never explained."
He says other non-white anchors were instead allowed to host the show though none had the experience Vaughn did.
He also claims he was left out of promotional material like on-air campaigns and billboards, despite being the premier evening news anchor at the time. His replacement, a younger, less experienced Black anchor, quickly appeared in such promotions after Vaughn's last day on air in September 2023, he says in the complaint.
"CBS decided that there were too many white males at CBS, and it acted accordingly," Vaughn argues. "It needed to solve its 'white problem' by firing successful white males."
Vaughn claims violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. He seeks $5 million in compensatory damages as well as punitive damages.
He is represented by John Howard, Scott Street, Michelle Volk and Peter Shelling of JW Howard Attorneys in San Diego, and by Nicholas Barry and Ian Prior of the America First Legal Foundation in Washington.
Follow @edpettersson
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