Comedian and Oscar award-winning actress Mo’Nique had scored a massive win in her discrimination lawsuit against streaming giants, Netflix.
In 2017, Mo’Nique claimed that Netflix offered her a paltry $500,000 for a stand-up special compared to Amy Schumer, who received $13 million and Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle, who both received $20 million each.
The “Precious” star feels that she, too, is a comedy legend and the pay should reflect that.
“I am asking that you stand with me and boycott Netflix for gender bias and color bias. I was offered a $500,000 deal last week to do a comedy special. However, Amy Schumer was offered $11 million, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle $20 million,” she said in a video posted to Instagram at the time.
Netflix flatly denied her claims and moved to have her lawsuit dismissed.
“The Court notes that Mo’Nique raises a novel theory here, namely that an employer’s failure to negotiate an ‘opening offer’ in good faith, consistent with its alleged customary practice which typically leads to increased compensation, constitutes an ‘adverse employment action’ for purposes of a retaliation claim,” the decision states via THR.
“While Netflix argues that the novelty of Mo’Nique’s claim and the absence of on-point legal authority for it should bar her retaliation claims outright, the Court disagrees.”
The actress’ team is reveling in her recent win.
“Today’s ruling is an important victory for Hollywood talent who, just like all other workers, need protections against retaliation if they raise concerns about pay discrimination during the hiring process,” her lawyer David deRubertis told the outlet. “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.”
