Brian Bagwell v. CBS Broadcasting Inc

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is a 65-year-old African-American who has been employed by CBS as a video editor for more than forty-one years. Dkt. 1-1 (Compl.) ¶ 5. Plaintiff performed his work for CBS pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement (the CBA) between his union and CBS. Id. ¶ 30 & Exs. 2-3. The CBA contains grievance and arbitration procedures designed to resolve employment disputes. See id. Ex. 2 at 28-31, Ex. 3 at 28-32. In January 2019, CBS Television City was sold to Hackman & Associates Productions. Id. ¶ 6. As part of the Television City sale, Plaintiff, along with other CBS employees who were “working on anything production-related,” was “sold” to Hackman without consent, agreement, or prior warning. Id. ¶ 7. Hackman had no work for Plaintiff to do. Id. ¶ 9. The employees who were not transferred to Hackman were offered a “double buyout.” Id. ¶ 8. These employees were Caucasian and had less experience, seniority, and qualifications than Plaintiff. Id. ¶ 11.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

“Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction” and “possess only that power authorized by [the] Constitution and statute . . . .” Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins.…