Comcast Holder Says Win in Byron Allen Suit Would Be a Loss
Comcast Investor Says a Win in Byron Allen Suit Would Be a Loss
(Bloomberg) -- Comcast Corp. is facing increased opposition in its legal dispute against media titan Byron Allen over claims of racial discrimination, and has now drawn the ire of one of the company’s largest pension fund holders, who’s urging the media conglomerate to settle.
“As long-term investors we are concerned that even if -- in fact, especially if -- Comcast wins the day in the Supreme Court, it loses,” New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who’s responsible for the city’s Retirement Systems fund, said in a letter Tuesday to Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts.
The letter says the New York City pension held more than 9 million Class A shares, worth almost $425 million, at the end of August.
The Supreme Court heard arguments Nov. 13 from Comcast and from Allen’s company, Entertainment Studios Inc., which alleged that the cable operator’s unwillingness to carry most of its channels was discriminatory. The high court agreed in June to hear Comcast’s appeal to of a ruling that let Allen’s suit move forward.
“Based on the oral argument, any fears that this case would have broad implications on civil rights enforcement have been proven unfounded,” Comcast said in an emailed statement. “Mr. Allen can drop his $20 billion lawsuit at any time and this case will go away.”
Comcast has maintained that it is not seeking to scale back the reach of section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a provision at the heart of Allen’s case that bars racial discrimination in contracting. But Stringer says that isn’t how “a panoply of civil rights groups” perceives Comcast’s position.
The Supreme Court hearing only demonstrated “a narrow, technical point of law that will not in any way lessen the nation’s civil rights laws,” said a Comcast spokeswoman. “Our advocacy was limited to urging that section 1981 be applied to our case in the same way it has been applied by other courts for decades.”
Stringer’s letter cites more than 20 civil rights organizations joining an amicus brief filed by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and 10 supporting another amicus brief to the Supreme Court submitted by the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund.
The New York City pensions have “a longstanding history of paving the way for investors” who are concerned about long-term value, Stringer says, notably by challenging discrimination at the companies it holds. For example, the letter cites New York City’s fight against workplace discrimination in the early 1990s, when Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. stopped hiring LGBT workers.
Comcast should “resolve this dispute promptly in the long-term best interest” of the company and its shareholders, Stringer said, “so that the Supreme Court need not reach a decision in this case and put at risk the civil rights jurisprudence of our nation.”
Allen says he remains “open and willing to meet with” Roberts “to resolve this matter immediately – before millions of Americans suffer the loss of our oldest and one of our most important civil rights.”
--With assistance from Greg Stohr.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kamaron Leach in New York at kleach6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Scott Schnipper, Jim Silver
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