Executives at “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” have filed race, gender and age discrimination complaints against the popular game shows.
Shelley Ballance Ellis, 60, who said she was the highest-ranking Black production executive on the game shows, and her Latina production colleague, Monique Diaz, 48, filed the complaints with California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD).
The two former executives filed a related complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and alleged that Sony’s management terminated them and other colleagues in retaliation for collectively opposing harmful discrimination, in addition to toxic working conditions on “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” FOX Business Digital has obtained both complaints.
Ballance Ellis and Diaz alleged that workers of color, who played critical roles in the production of “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune,” experienced years of agonizing discrimination in the workplace.
During Balance Ellis’ 25-year tenure, she claimed that her and other colleagues expressed discomfort over “the airing of inappropriate footage of Southern plantations on ‘Wheel of Fortune.’”
Additionally, “racist comments and jokes” were made in the control room about Black women on the show, along with “the dismissal of workers’ concerns about racial bias in the ‘Jeopardy!’ game questions.”
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Diaz, who has worked on the shows for 23 years, claimed she experienced a “massive pay inequity.” The two game show executives were terminated in April.
In a statement to FOX Business Digital, Sony Pictures Entertainment said “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” underwent new leadership for the game shows, and the terminations were “not retaliatory.”
“Sony Pictures Entertainment takes all allegations of discrimination very seriously. 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,” the statement said.
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“Those eliminations were business efficiency decisions and not retaliatory. Further, 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. We are anchored to these values as we usher in a new era for our game shows with tenacity and circumspection.”
Attorneys for Ballance Ellis and Diaz shared in a statement, “What happened to Shelley and her colleagues behind the closed doors of production should not happen and it was unlawful under our civil rights laws.”
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“In the coming months, California’s CRD and the federal NLRB will investigate Ms. Balance’s Ellis and Ms. Diaz’s allegations of discrimination and retaliation against Sony and determine whether Sony violated their rights when Sony terminated them and denied them other employment opportunities.”
The current executive producer for “Jeopardy!” is Michael Davies. The show is being hosted by Ken Jennings for its 41st season.
Meanwhile, “Wheel of Fortune” is currently executive produced by Bellamie Blackstone and hosted by television personality Ryan Seacrest for season 42, after longtime host Pat Sajak stepped down.
