In April 2024 he 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. One month ago, it appeared that the legal fight was over.
Not so, says Soohyung Kim, who has appealed his racial discrimination case to a Federal Appeals Court.
The decision to move forward and challenge the decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia puts new gas in the tank for a legal battle that saw Kim, who heads the hedge fund Standard General and its Standard Media Group, seek $136 million in damages from former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel 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 for their purported efforts that ultimately prevented Standard Media from effectively merging with TEGNA and making Deb McDermott its CEO.
This happened on Tuesday, with a fresh civil case docketed by the United States Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit, which will consider SGCI Holdings III LLC, et al v. FCC, et al.
Attorney Tyler Green and his team at Salt Lake City-based Consovoy McCarthy PLLC remain Soo’s legal counsel. And, they will renew Soo’s contention that not getting the TEGNA transaction completed comes down to racism. Furthermore, they paint a picture suggesting Allen Media Group, which is divesting its stations due to fiscal challenges within the organization, was viewed as a more worthy minority buyer. In Green’s words, “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.”
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.
The lower court on August 19 dismissed Soo’s case, as U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled that Standard General and Soo Kim lacked 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.
