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A group of current and former Black employees of CNN, Turner Broadcasting, and parent company Time Warner have filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The class-action lawsuit was filed on Wednesday and precedes a similar complaint made by DeWayne Walker, a CNN producer who sued CNN individually in January for US$50 million for racial discrimination and retaliation.

The collective lawsuit is based on an internal Human Rights Diversity Trends Report which showed that men of color consistently received the lowest ratings on performance reviews. The report also found that the upper ranks of management were substantially less diverse than the company as a whole.

“As a result of the current discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of DeWayne Walker vs. CNN, Time Warner & Turner, we have uncovered stories involving abuse of power, nepotism, revenge, retaliation and discrimination,” said Daniel Meachum, the plaintiffs’ lawyer.

The 40-page lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court in the Northern District of Georgia where CNN has its Atlanta headquarters. It also alleges that African-Americans must wait much longer for promotions and that they make less than their white counterparts.

So far CNN has declined to comment in the case.

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