Updated
Updated · MyNewsLA.com · Jun 14
Viacom, Paramount Seek $2,000 Sanctions Over 31 Interrogatories in Ex-Manager's 2024 Bias Suit
Updated
Updated · MyNewsLA.com · Jun 14

Viacom, Paramount Seek $2,000 Sanctions Over 31 Interrogatories in Ex-Manager's 2024 Bias Suit

1 articles · Updated · MyNewsLA.com · Jun 14

Summary

  • $2,000 in sanctions and relief from answering 31 questions were sought by Viacom International Services and Paramount Global ahead of a June 25 Los Angeles hearing in Shawn David Wu’s employment case.
  • Defense lawyers said Wu has now served 69 interrogatories—well above California’s 35-question limit—and argued the case’s issues do not justify more written discovery after document requests and depositions.
  • Wu’s lawyers countered that the disputed interrogatories are narrowly tailored and necessary because company witnesses allegedly failed in depositions to provide specific answers that could test whether his layoff was pretextual.
  • Wu, a former Nickelodeon content development manager fired in August 2024, alleges he was retaliated against after raising concerns about diversity, discrimination and the legality of the companies’ use of outside AI-generated content.

Insights

Amid a mega-merger, was a manager fired for questioning AI ethics or for his diversity advocacy?
Are employees who question corporate AI and diversity policies now facing a new form of illegal retaliation?
Could this lawsuit reveal how studios secretly use copyrighted material to train their AI tools?