Publisher Gannett wins dismissal of nearly all of journalists' job bias lawsuit

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) -Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, won the dismissal of most of a lawsuit, including all class action claims, alleging its diversity policies led to widespread discrimination against white journalists.

U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston said on Wednesday the plaintiffs offered no proof that Gannett’s alleged “reverse race discrimination policy” caused similar harm across its hundreds of media outlets, which include USA Today, such that affected employees could sue as a group rather than individually.

“Plaintiffs would all be seeking relief based on different theories of recovery, based on different positions, at different newspapers, in different areas of the country, with different decisionmakers,” the Alexandria, Virginia-based judge wrote.

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