Bias and the Business of Show: Employment Discrimination in the 'Entertainment' Industry

13 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2020

Date Written: October 1, 2016

Abstract

The primary service of show business is entertainment. Comment in the public interest — when there is any — is secondary at best. The entertainment industry is a business organized for profit that can be an important medium for the communication of ideas, but it is not such incarnate. The marketplace drives project greenlighting, but presumed client preference by industry gatekeepers does not legally justify subsequent discriminatory employment practices. For the courts to permit otherwise is to nullify equal opportunity for thousands of workers who deserve the protection of our judiciary, real people who need and want to work in the profession of their choosing.

Keywords: entertainment, acting, actor, actress, film, television, stage, theater, theatre, Hollywood, directing, producing, director, producer, casting, industry, equal employment opportunity, BFOQ, workers' rights, show business, biz

JEL Classification: J14, J15, J71, J83, K22, K31, Z11, Z22

Suggested Citation

Tarr, Kathleen, Bias and the Business of Show: Employment Discrimination in the 'Entertainment' Industry (October 1, 2016). University of San Francisco Law Review, 51 U.S.F. L. Rev. (Oct. 2016) , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3402049

Kathleen Tarr (Contact Author)

Stanford University ( email )

Stanford, CA 94305
United States

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