Al Roker will face a lawsuit alleging that the celebrity host and his production company fired a producer for complaining about not meeting DEI quotas.
The veteran meteorologist, 69, is accused of “unfairly and illegally” firing producer Bill Schultz, who is white, after Shultz said he reported alleged racial discrimination on Roker’s children’s show, Weather Hunters.
Shultz, 47, an Emmy-winning producer best known for his work on The Simpsons, said the show did not follow diversity guidelines, including employing writers of color.
In his $10 million lawsuit filed this week in New York, Shultz said the subject matter was “surprising” because Weather Hunters is “centered on an African-American family and was developed inclusively for PBS’s important and diverse children’s audience.” .
Among the accusations, Shultz, a self-proclaimed advocate for “racial diversity and inclusion,” claimed he was fired over allegations that the show would only hire black writers for minor edits of scripts written by white staff.
Al Roker, 69, is facing a lawsuit from a producer of his animated children’s show, Weather Hunters, over allegations that his company circumvented DEI policies.
Veteran producer Bill Schultz, 47, said he was fired from the show he helped create after raising concerns about the lack of diverse hiring practices at Weather Hunters.
In Schultz’s lawsuit, first obtained by The Hollywood ReporterHe said the diversity issue “doomed” the producer and “led to his unjustified dismissal and complete breach of contract.”
He filed the lawsuit against Roker’s company, Al Roker Entertainment, and its subsidiary WeatherHunters Inc., for whom Shultz had worked since 2014.
That year, Shultz says he “conceived, conceptualized and created the entire business plan” for the show, which was then contracted for production by PBS.
‘Mister. “Schultz was indispensable in the creation of the Program and worked tirelessly to create a financial plan where one hundred percent ownership of the program would remain under the control and ownership of Al Roker,” the lawsuit states.
He said the show introduced new DEI guidelines in 2022 to increase the number of writers of color on the show, which he says was a boost since the show is aimed at Black audiences.
In his lawsuit, Schultz claims that he “consistently maintained a vision for staffing and producing the show by a diverse group of creators and artists,” and that he was happy to see it soon become a contractual obligation.
However, the longtime producer, who made his name on animated shows such as Ed, Edd and Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog, said diversity regulations were quickly circumvented.
In scathing language, Shultz’s lawsuit says the program viewed staff of color as “an unwanted disadvantage or obstacle that could be ignored if necessary and evaded or overcome, even if that meant using deceptive and underhanded tactics.”
“Further, Al Roker Entertainment’s management did not consider PBS’ DEI mandate to be a requirement,” the lawsuit reads.
Schultz’s allegations center on Roker’s animated children’s show, Weather Hunters, which he claims was “inclusively developed for PBS’s important and diverse children’s audience.”
Schultz, best known for his work on The Simpsons, saw staff of color as “an unwanted disadvantage or obstacle that could be ignored if necessary.”
Roker’s entertainment company accused of ‘deceptive and cynical tactic to give the false appearance of diversity’
Shultz also claimed that writers of color were labeled as inexperienced compared to white writers, and executives felt that focusing on diversity took too much time and would disrupt the shooting schedule.
Instead, the producer said they came up with a strategy, which was “previously advocated and supported in writing by Al Roker Entertainment management,” to bring in black writers after the scripts were already written by white staff.
“This was a deceptive and cynical tactic to give the false appearance of diversity in writing and show ‘numbers’ that support diversity while avoiding the effort of recruiting, developing and working with BIPOC writers that it mistakenly and offensively characterized as less capable.” , the suit read.
“Following the implementation of the DEI Policy, Defendants attempted to ignore and minimize it and retaliated against Mr. Schultz when he objected to issues related to Defendants’ conduct in relation to the DEI Policy and race.”
Schultz’s firing occurred in February 2024 for alleged breach of contract, and his lawsuit seeks a trial and at least $10 million in damages.
Al Roker Entertainment did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by DailyMail.com.