Two motions filed by AT&T and DirecTV against the owner of Indianapolis’ MyNetworkTV and The CW Network affiliates that sought to dismiss a racial discrimination lawsuit filed against the MVPD service providers have been denied by the Chief Judge of Indiana’s Federal District Court.
There’s also a defamation claim that was brought against the companies by DuJuan McCoy and his Circle City Broadcasting, licensee of WISH-8 and WNDY-23 in Indianapolis.
McCoy alleges that AT&T and DirecTV “refused and continue to refuse to contract in a non-
discriminatory manner with Circle City as required by 42 U.S.C. § 1981.”
Section 1981 gives “[a]ll persons within the jurisdiction of the United States” the same right “to make and enforce contracts” without respect to race.
According to AT&T and DirecTV, McCoy failed to state a claim for race discrimination under Section 1981 and for defamation. The two parties then state their case.
As the court sees it, “at the motion to dismiss stage, the court must accept as true all of the Plaintiff’s allegations.” AT&T and DirecTV, it said, attempted to circumvent this standard. As such, the defendants are “asking much more of this Court,” leading to the denial of the motion to dismiss.
However, the defamation lawsuit filed by McCoy against DirecTV and AT&T appears to have concluded in the defendants’ favor, as the judge ruled McCoy and Circle City failed to state a defamation claim. McCoy argued that AT&T and DirecTV portrayed him as “greedy,” among other claims brought against the companies.
