Former “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” staffers have filed employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation complaints against Sony Pictures Entertainment after the Culver City-based company allegedly laid off workers who spoke out against toxic working conditions.
Shelley Ballance Ellis, a former production executive on the game shows, and Monique Diaz, a former member of the series’ clearance and licensing department, each filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department on Thursday. They previously filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board over similar issues.
Sony Pictures denied that any of its decisions were retaliatory, attributing the layoffs to a broader reorganization.
“Sony Pictures Entertainment takes all allegations of discrimination very seriously,” the studio said in a statement. “Earlier this year there was a broad reorganization of our game show group that resulted in the elimination of several roles to address redundancies and evolving business needs of a 40+-year-old operation. Those eliminations were business efficiency decisions and not retaliatory.”
Ballance Ellis identifies herself in her complaint as the highest ranking Black production executive at “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune,” as well as the head of the shows’ clearance and licensing department for 26 years. She has accused Sony of terminating her and “every diverse person” on her team because they repeatedly raised concerns about discrimination in the workplace.
Diaz was among the employees who were laid off in April. She alleges in her complaint that her employment ended after she complained about being paid significantly less than a white employee who was newly hired into a less senior role.
According to the filing, the white staff member’s annual salary was $125,000 while Diaz was making $75,000. Sony allegedly raised Diaz’s annual salary to $113,000 following her protests.
“Both workers allege they and their colleagues were terminated because they objected to racial discrimination in the workplace, the massive pay inequity Ms. Diaz experienced, the glass ceiling and other bias Ms. Ballance Ellis faced as an older Black woman,” the ex-employees’ attorneys, Hillary Benham-Baker and Peter Romer-Friedman, said Thursday in a press release.
Ballance Ellis further alleges in her complaint that after she, Diaz and their colleagues were let go, Sony replaced them with mostly younger white employees.
In addition to pay inequities and discriminatory employment practices, Ballance Ellis and Diaz also say that they and their colleagues objected to footage of Southern plantations aired on “Wheel of Fortune”; racist remarks made in the workplace and in the “Wheel of Fortune” control room about Black women on the show; and racially biased “Jeopardy!” clues, among other offensive things.
Ballance Ellis added in her unfair labor practice charge that those experiences caused her and her colleagues emotional and psychological distress, as well as economic harm.
“The past few years have been a time of significant transition and internal reorienting for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, driven by a new leadership team who are profoundly dedicated to fostering a culture of inclusivity and respect,” Sony said in its statement. “We are anchored to these values as we usher in a new era for our game shows with tenacity and circumspection.”