Mo’Nique’s Discrimination Lawsuit Against Netflix Moving Forward

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The racial discrimination lawsuit Mo’Nique filed against Netflix is still moving forward despite the streaming platform’s attempt to thwart it. According to Deadline, in rejecting the streamer’s motion to dismiss, Judge Andre Birotte Jr. said yesterday that Mo’s claims were plausible.

“Mo’Nique plausibly alleges that, after she spoke out and called her initial offer discriminatory, Netflix retaliated against her by shutting down its standard practice of negotiating in good faith that typically results in increased monetary compensation beyond the ‘opening offer’ and denying her increased compensation as a result”

The Oscar-winning comedienne filed the lawsuit against Netflix back in November 2019, for racial and gender discrimination after she was offered $500,000 for a comedy special. Meanwhile, Monique’s white male contemporary, Ricky Gervais, was offered $60 million. She listed other examples, like Amy Schumer, who was able to renegotiate her contract to $13 million after also being apparently low balled.

Mo’Nique has yet to comment on the victory, but her lawyers called the ruling important.

“Today’s ruling is an important victory for Hollywood talent who, just like all other workers, need protection against retaliation if they raise concerns about pay discrimination during the hiring process. Employers in the entertainment industry need to take pay discrimination concerns seriously, fix them if the concerns have merit, and never retaliate against those who have the courage to speak up about equal pay.”