CREDIT: Walker 
 
 This was posted on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog 
 
 Former and current black employees on Tuesday filed a class action lawsuit against Atlanta-based CNN, Turner Broadcasting and New York based parent company Time Warner for racial discrimination. MORE: Our interview with CNN president Jeff Zucker 
 
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 “As a result of the current discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of DeWayne Walker vs. CNN, Time Warner & Turner, we have uncovered stories involving abuse of power, nepotism, revenge, retaliation and discrimination,” said Daniel Meachum in a press release. The press release provided a photo of DeWayne Walker, a CNN producer who sued CNN individually in January for $50 million for racial discrimination and retaliation for filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. DeWayne Walker alleged racial discrimination in a $50 million lawsuit filed late last year against CNN, Turner Broadcasting System, Time Warner Inc. and Turner Services Inc. 
 
 Walker, who is an integrated marketing manager at CNN, according to his LinkedIn page, also claims he was retaliated against for filing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint. Celeslie Henley, a former executive administrative assistant at CNN, and Ernest Colbert Jr., a senior manager at TBS, are the only named plaintiffs though Meachum said 20 to 30 other unnamed current and former Turner employees helped him out with information about their experiences. Black employees also historically received lower scores on their evaluations, according to the complaint. It says based on data provided by Turner, blacks are terminated at a higher rate than whites and promoted at a significantly slower rate. The lawsuit alleges that this “can only be attributed to the fact that Turner, specifically CNN has implemented formal [emphasis in original] written and unwritten policies and practices regarding promotions[. She said she was fired as retaliation for complaining to HR in early 2014. One of the named plaintiffs, Ernie Colbert Jr., claims that in 19 years of working at TBS, he has only been promoted twice, and was paid less than his white coworkers. That data, according to the suit, shows that "salaries paid by Turner and/or CNN to African-American compared with salaries paid to Caucasian employees reveals dramatic differences in pay in similarly situated employees of different race. According to court documents, Blalock's lawyer alleges that CNN “intentionally and willfully violated Mr. Blalock’s right to be free from race-based discrimination in his employment.” The new lawsuit is the latest allegation of discrimination against the broadcasting giant. They are represented by Daniel Meachum, whose Atlanta-based firm has a clientele that includes actor Denzel Washington and BET founder Bob Johnson.
– Current and former black employees of CNN and Turner Broadcasting filed a class action lawsuit against the companies and their parent company, Time Warner, this week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The employees allege racial discrimination. CNN producer DeWayne Walker sued the network individually in January, claiming he was skipped over for promotions for more than 13 years because he's black. "As a result of the current discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of DeWayne Walker ... we have uncovered stories involving abuse of power, nepotism, revenge, retaliation, and discrimination," says Walker's lawyer, Daniel Meachum. Walker is not a plaintiff in the class action lawsuit; just two plaintiffs are named in the lawsuit, but Meachum says 20 to 30 other unnamed people told him of their experiences, which prove "a company-wide pattern and practice" going back more than two decades, he says. The lawsuit alleges that black employees receive "disproportionately lower scores on evaluations" and are also discriminated against when it comes to compensation, promotions, and terminations. It also alleges that black employees have been subjected to racial slurs from their superiors. Two other black CNN employees have sued the network for discrimination this year, the Hill reports. Meachum tells LawNewz that since his lawsuit was announced, 20 to 30 additional people have requested to become part of the class.