{"id":550793,"date":"2021-06-03T11:51:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T15:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=550793"},"modified":"2021-06-03T11:51:34","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T15:51:34","slug":"gay-employee-hits-disney-with-anti-discrimination-suit-at-start-of-pride-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gay-employee-hits-disney-with-anti-discrimination-suit-at-start-of-pride-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Gay Employee Hits Disney with Anti-Discrimination Suit at Start of Pride Month  \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgay-employee-hits-disney-with-anti-discrimination-suit-at-start-of-pride-month%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=550793&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1155479915.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><span>Just as its various social media accounts were rolling out rainbow-themed Pride Month posts, Disney was hit with an anti-discrimination lawsuit from a long-time executive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Attorneys for ABC-Signature Vice President Joel Hopkins filed a <\/span><span>ten-page complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court on June 1, alleging sexual orientation discrimination and failure to prevent discrimination in violation of California\u2019s Fair Employment and Housing Act. \u201cPlaintiff has direct and repeated complaints to HR about the discrimination he has endured while employed by Defendants,\u201d the complaint states, \u201cand, concomitantly, the related failures to promote him and to pay him at the same level as other department heads.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The suit, which Deadline reprinted in<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/DISNEY-SEXUAL-DISCRIMINATION-SUIT.pdf\"> <span>full<\/span><\/a><span>, goes on to allege, \u201cAfter his sexual orientation became known to his superiors and after being discriminated against and put on a dead-end career track and repeatedly denied promotions with no remedy or relief from HR, Plaintiff is informed and believes that yet again, in or around April 2021, several promotions occurred, but Plaintiff once again was not promoted. Plaintiff is informed and believes that these promotions occurred despite representations that Disney was hurting financially and not promoting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Hopkins began his career with the company in 1994 as a director of production finance for Buena Vista Television and was promoted twice in six years to become v<\/span><span>ice president of production finance for Touchstone TV. <\/span><span>But he says once his supervisor, ABC CFO Jim Hedges, became aware he was gay, the promotions stopped and he failed to advance any further.\u00a0 Hopkins is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, and costs to cover his legal fees \u2014 damages Deadline says, \u201ccould really start racking up if a judge takes into consideration what Hopkins could have earned over the decades had he moved up the Disney corporate food chain accordingly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Given that Disney would have been notified that Hopkins received a Right To Sue notice from the state\u2019s Department of Fair Employment and Housing on April 30, it could not have been surprised by the lawsuit. But its timing is especially awkward for a company heavily promoting various Pride Month campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe believe in the power of inclusive storytelling that brings us together and inspires us to live authentically, and Disney+ is committed to amplifying LGBTQ+ and BIPOC voices. We are proud to be a home for diverse creators, talent, and content,\u201d Disney Plus<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/disneyplus\/status\/1399730726858231811?s=20\"> <span>tweeted<\/span><\/a><span> the same day Hopkins filed his complaint, adding in<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/disneyplus\/status\/1399730728452034562?s=20\"> <span>subsequent<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/disneyplus\/status\/1399730729232179207?s=20\"> <span>posts<\/span><\/a><span>, \u201cAround the world, The Walt Disney Company proudly contributes towards organizations that support LGBTQ+ communities and people. Discover LGBTQ+ characters and stories in the \u201cCelebrate Pride Month\u201d content set now streaming on #DisneyPlus and join us in recognizing the community all month long with special spotlights, musical moments, laughter and love. #DisneyPlusPride.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The company\u2019s main Disney Twitter account<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Disney\/status\/1399833908691320833?s=20\"> <span>tweeted<\/span><\/a><span> simply, \u201cThere\u2019s room for everyone under the rainbow. Happy #PrideMonth!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Daily Wire reached out to Disney and ABC for comment on the merits of Hopkins\u2019 suit but did not receive an immediate response.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>member<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just as its various social media accounts were rolling out rainbow-themed Pride Month posts, Disney was hit with an anti-discrimination lawsuit from a long-time executive.Attorneys for ABC-Signature Vice President Joel &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2279060,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1155479915.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Gay Employee Hits Disney with Anti-Discrimination Suit at Start of Pride Month  \u00a0","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-550793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1155479915.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Gay Employee Hits Disney with Anti-Discrimination Suit at Start of Pride Month  \u00a0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2279060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}