Al Roker is facing a lawsuit alleging that the celebrity host and his production company fired a producer because he complained about not meeting DEI quotas.
The longtime weatherman, 69, is accused of “wrongfully and illegally” firing producer Bill Schultz, who is white, after Shultz says he 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 hiring writers of color.
In his $10 million lawsuit filed this week in New York, Shultz said the issue was “surprising” because Weather Hunters “is focused on an African-American family and is developed inclusively for PBS’s highly diverse children’s audience.”
Among the allegations, Shultz, a self-proclaimed advocate of “diversity and racial inclusion,” claimed he was fired over allegations that the show would only bring in black writers for minor edits of scripts written by white staffers.
Al Roker, 69, is facing a lawsuit from a producer of his children’s animated series, Weather Hunters, over claims that his company violated DEI policies
Longtime producer Bill Schultz, 47, said he was fired from the show he helped create after raising concerns about a lack of diverse hiring practices at Weather Hunters
In Schultz lawsuit, first obtained by The Hollywood ReporterHe said the issue of diversity “doomed” the producer and “led to his wrongful termination and massive breach of contract.”
He filed a lawsuit against Roker’s company, Al Roker Entertainment, and its subsidiary WeatherHunters Inc., for whom Shultz had worked since 2014.
That year, Shultz claims he “conceived, conceptualized and created the entire business plan for the show,” which was later picked up for production by PBS.
‘Mr. Schultz was instrumental in the creation of the program and worked tirelessly to create a financial plan that would leave one hundred percent of the program’s ownership under the control and ownership of Al Roker,” the lawsuit alleged.
He said the show introduced new DEI guidelines in 2022 to increase the number of writers of color on the show, which he said he pushed for because the show is aimed at Black audiences.
In his lawsuit, Schultz claims he “consistently maintained a vision for staffing and producing the program with a diverse group of creators and artists,” and was pleased that this quickly became a contractual obligation.
However, the longtime producer, who made his name in animated shows including Ed, Edd and Eddy, and Courage the Cowardly Dog, said diversity rules were quickly being circumvented.
In scathing terms, Shultz’s lawsuit says the show viewed staffers of color as “a handicap or an unwelcome obstacle that could be ignored and dodged or overcome if necessary — even if it meant using underhanded and deceptive tactics.”
“Furthermore, Al Roker Entertainment management did not view the PBS DEI mandate as a requirement,” the lawsuit said.
Schultz’s accusations center around Roker’s animated children’s program Weather Hunters, which he notes is “developed inclusively for PBS’s important diverse children’s audience.”
Schultz, best known for his work on The Simpsons, saw the show’s staffers of color as “a handicap or an unwelcome obstacle that could be ignored if necessary.”
Smoker’s entertainment company is accused of ‘deceptive and cynical tactics to create the false appearance of diversity’
Shultz also claimed that writers of color were labeled as inexperienced compared to white writers, and that executives felt focusing on diversity took too much time and would disrupt the shooting schedule.
Instead, the producer said they devised a strategy, “previously advocated in writing and supported by Al Roker Entertainment management,” to bring in black writers after the scripts had already been written by white staffers.
“This was a deceptive and cynical tactic to create the false appearance of diversity in writing and show ‘numbers’ that support diversity while circumventing efforts to recruit, develop, and collaborate with BIPOC writers whom he falsely identified and offensively labeled as less capable,” the spokesperson said. package read.
“After implementing the DEI Policy, Defendants attempted to ignore and minimize it and retaliated against Mr. Schultz when he objected to issues surrounding Defendants’ conduct related to the DEI Policy and race.”
Schultz’s dismissal occurred in February 2024 for alleged breach of contract, and his lawsuit seeks a trial and damages of at least $10 million.
Al Roker Entertainment did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by DailyMail.com.