Brian Beneker, a script coordinator on SEAL Team, is suing CBS Studios and its parent company Paramount Global, alleging he has been repeatedly passed over for jobs because he is a straight white man.
The lawsuit alleges that CBS’ “illegal policy of race and sex balancing” created a situation in which “heterosexual, white men need ‘extra’ qualifications (including military experience or previous writing credits) to be hired as staff writers [on SEAL Team] when compared to their nonwhite, LGBTQ, or female peers, who require no such ‘extra’ qualifications.”
The lawsuit details multiple instances in which he was allegedly passed over for staff writing positions by women or people of color, claiming many of them had “no prior writing credits” or “little substantial experience.”
In one instance in Season 6, two female writers – one Black, and the other lesbian, the lawsuit specified – were hired on as staff writes. Beneker claims in the lawsuit that SEAL Team producer Spencer Hudnut told him the women “checked diversity boxes that Beneker did not.”
“Hudnut indicated that the reason Beneker could not be brought on as a staff writer was that he did not check any diversity boxes, thus confirming that the Defendants deliberately discriminated against Beneker on the basis of his race, sex, gender, and sexual orientation,” the complaint reads.
According to his IMDb, Beneker worked as a script coordinator on SEAL Team from 2017 to 2022, during which he also wrote three episodes as a freelance writer. Before SEAL Team, his only previous writing credit was in 2000 on the series Resurrection Blvd.
The complaint later outlines instances in which CBS allegedly admitted to using “racial quotas” in hiring for its writers rooms. The lawsuit claims these hiring practices are in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibit employment discrimination.
Beneker is represented by America First Legal Foundation, an organization founded by former Trump aide Stephen Miller.
He seeks at least $500,00 in damages and demands that he be made a full-time producer on SEAL Team. He also calls for an end to the hiring practice.
