Byron Allen's discrimination lawsuit against Comcast and the opening of the Charter – Variety

Byron Allen's entertainment studios won legal victories on Monday as a federal appeals court ruled that his claims of racial discrimination against Comcast and the Charter submissions would continue.

The US Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena, California, quashed a lower court's decision to dismiss Allen's complaint against Comcast. The same three-judge panel also upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss the Charter's motion to dismiss Allen's complaint.

The decisions indicate that Allen has plausibly argued that racial discrimination is a factor taken into account in the separate decisions by Comcast and Charter not to broadcast any of Entertainment Studios' cable channels. Allen filed a lawsuit against Comcast in 2015 and against Charter in early 2016.

Allen's lawsuits stem from a post-civil war law designed to help protect freed slaves from discrimination when entering into contracts and commercial contracts. The decisions rendered on Monday do not address the substantive claims of Entertainment Studios against the cable giants, but only because the number of plausible allegations in the lawsuits is sufficient for the litigation to proceed in the courts. The Appeal Board also found that the First Amendment claims of Comcast and Charter, which protected their programming decisions, were not sufficient to dismiss the cases.

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Allen says Comcast and the Charter's longstanding decision not to broadcast any of its entertainment and lifestyle channels are racist. Allen took a similar action against AT & T, which was settled in late 2015 when AT & T's DirecTV captured seven Entertainment Studios channels.

"Claims of the applicants concerning Entertainment Studios Charter, and its different treatment of whites-owned enterprises, suffice affirm a viable claim, "wrote Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. in the Charter Notice.

Comcast and Charter criticized the decisions.

"We respectfully disagree with the court's decision, we are reviewing it and considering our options," Comcast said in a statement. The Charter has had a stronger response.

"This trial is a desperate tactic that this programmer has already used with other distributors," Charter said. "We are disappointed with today's decision and will vigorously defend these claims."

Allen, founder, president and CEO of Entertainment Studios, called the decisions "new and historical."

"The lack of true economic inclusion for African Americans will end with me, and these decisions show that I am not left out in my commitment to achieving this long-awaited goal," Allen said.