In May 2023, the sale of TEGNA to Standard General failed to reach the finish line, resulting in a non-consummation and, more than two years later, the company’s proposed sale to Nexstar Media Group.
Standard General head Soohyung Kim was hardly pleased, and in April 2024 sued the FCC and its then-Chairwoman and Media Bureau Chief for a decision to put his proposed TEGNA deal in front of an Administrative Law Judge. Race discrimination on the part of the Commission was at the crux of his legal battle.
It’s a judicial fight that has, pending any appeal, ended in the Commission’s favor.
With Consovoy McCarthy PLLC attorneys representing Soo, Standard General sued Jessica Rosenworcel (the former FCC Commissioner) and ex-Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer; Allen Media Group and its owner, Byron Allen, as an individual; Dish Network Corp. and, individually, company head Charlie Ergen; unions NewsGuild-CWA and NABET-CWA; United Church of Christ; Common Cause; and David Goodfriend.
Soo Kim sought $136 million in damages for their purported efforts that ultimately prevented Standard Media from effectively merging with TEGNA and making Deb McDermott its CEO.
In a 120-page filing seeking a jury trial in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, attorney Tyler Green of Salt Lake City-based Consovoy McCarthy PLLC made it clear in the very first paragraph of the complaint that, in Soo’s view, not getting the TEGNA transaction completed comes down to racism. In this case, Green writes, “advancing equity” meant “killing the chance for a Korean American” — Soo — to buy TEGNA’s more than 60 television stations “because Byron Allen wanted them for his Black-owned media company.”
How can racism be a factor if two minorities are at the center of the discussion? Soo’s attorney claimed, “As far as the FCC’s diversity policies and practices were concerned, being Asian did not count. Mr. Kim’s race was used against him with pernicious stereotypes.”
Thus, Soo’s legal representatives claimed he was victimized with a violation of Equal Protection against the FCC, Rosenworcel and Saurer; and a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 against Allen Media Group, Dish, Goodfriend, NewsGuilt, NABET, UCC, Mr. Allen, and Mr. Ergen.
Additionally, a charge of a violation of the Enforcement Act of 1871 was brought against Rosenworcel, Saurer, The Allen Group, Dish, NewsGuild, NABET, UCC, Common Cause, Allen, Ergen and Goodfriend. Furthermore, there was a tortious interference charge lobbed against Allen Group, DISH, Goodfriend, NewsGuilt, NABET, UCC, Common Cause, Allen, and Ergen.
On those grounds, the $136 million break-up fee Standard General paid to TEGNA was sought from the defendants, with U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Rudolph Contreras accepting motions through December 2024. Finally, on August 19, a memorandum opinion and order quietly arrived granting the the defendants’ motions to dismiss the case.
First, Contreras ruled that Standard General and Soo Kim “lack standing to sue the FCC Defendants for prospective relief because [they] have not shown that any future injury is certainly impending.”
Then, with respect to the racial discrimination claims, Contreras ruled, “[T]he Complaint lacks any factual allegation from which to infer that the FCC used Kim’s race negatively.” This led the court to conclude that Soo Kim and Standard General’s allegations of a past equal protection violation “are weak at best.”
Simultaneously, a motion for sanctions requested by Ergen and Dish was denied by Contreras.
