Gannett Co. Inc. (NYS:GCI) has been hit with a federal class action lawsuit filed by five individuals who claim they were the victims of reverse discrimination because they are “non-minorities.”
According to a Publishers Daily report, one of the plaintiffs is Steven Bradley, a former sportswriter and editor who worked at Gannett”™s Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester for 21 years. Bradley, who has a lawsuit against the company in New York State Supreme Court, argued in his federal case that his employment was terminated because he was White, whereas another worker being considered for termination was retained because he was Asian.
Bradley”™s complaint added that “Gannett chose not to hire Bradley on the basis of his race and instead went outside the applicant pool and hand selected a candidate that, irrespective of her qualifications, satisfied the quotas Gannett was seeking to achieve.”
Four other plaintiffs have joined Bradley in his lawsuit, and they ware seeking an award for the value of lost wages and fringe benefits, as well as punitive and compensatory damages.
Gannett, which did not publicly comment on the lawsuit, is the nation”™s largest newspaper chain with more than 200 print papers. Locally, the company publishes The Journal News, the Poughkeepsie Journal and the Times Herald-Record.
