SCOTUS Hands Comcast a Victory in Programming Discrimination Fight

The Supreme Court vacated the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruling a lower court dismissal of a discrimination complaint against Comcast brought by Entertainment Studios Network. The decision Monday penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch rejected ESN arguments that under federal civil rights law, the plaintiff bearing only the burden of showing race was a motivating factor. SCOTUS said the court has rejected the motivating factor test in other cases.

The decision remands the case to the 9th Circuit to see how the complaint fares under the proper standard. Oral argument was in November.

The opinion was joined by all justices except Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.