Judge Dismisses Victoria Rowell Lawsuit Against Sony Pictures Television and CBS

Victoria Rowell

On Tuesday, California District Judge John A. Kronstadt dismissed a lawsuit filed by former The Young and the Restless actress Victoria Rowell against Sony Pictures Television and CBS. Y&R's production company and the network that airs it won their bid to dismiss the case alleging she was systematically discriminated against during her time on the soap.

The judge dismissed six causes of action against Sony with leave to amend.

“Plaintiff’s first and second causes of action for failure to rehire on Y&R are dismissed, with leave to amend, if Plaintiff can do so in good faith and in conformance with the analysis in this Order,” the judge told Rowell.

Rowell filed the lawsuit in February alleging that the producers of Y&R refused to rehire her for that show or The Bold and the Beautiful. The actress left Y&R in 2007 after 17 years playing Drucilla Winters, claiming she had suffered years of racial discrimination, harassment and resistance from CBS executives to increase diversity on the daytime soap.

CBS hit back in a statement saying the suit had “no merit and that they were going to “vigorously defend” the case. They moved to dismiss Rowell’s lawsuit contending, among other things, that her demands violate the First Amendment.

The judge rejected CBS and Sony's First Amendment and anti-SLAPP moves against her case, and it's possible Rowell could file again if she can come up with additional evidence to prove her claims.

Read the latest ruling here.

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