June 3 (Reuters) - Fox Corp's ( FOXA ) streaming TV

subsidiary Tubi has sued a plaintiffs' law firm for allegedly

manufacturing tens of thousands of meritless discrimination

claims against it in the hopes of coercing a settlement.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Washington, D.C., federal

court, Tubi accused the firm Keller Postman of filing nearly

24,000 uninvestigated complaints of discrimination with private

arbitration service JAMS, putting the streaming company on the

hook for $48 million in upfront arbitration fees unless it

settled.

Keller Postman in May demanded a total of $71.2 million to

settle the claims, or $3,000 per claimant, Tubi alleged. It

accused the firm of "weaponizing the arbitration process,"

calling it a pioneer of "mass arbitration" that relies on

unethical client solicitation and abuse of arbitration fee

provisions.

"Keller Postman manufactured claims against Tubi, failed to

conduct an investigation to learn specific facts about each of

its clients' claims, and filed tens of thousands of

cookie-cutter claims to force Tubi into an arbitration that

should not be taking place," the lawsuit said.

Keller Postman managing partner Warren Postman said in an

email that Tubi "is pursuing a frivolous claim as a desperate

tactic to evade liability for its discriminatory advertising

practices."

Lawyers for Tubi declined to comment.

Tubi said Keller Postman filed 23,736 arbitration demands

alleging discrimination through targeted advertising based on

age, gender or sex. The demands did not identify the ads or the

claimants' age, gender or sex, the lawsuit said.

JAMS changed its mass arbitration rules on May 1, the

lawsuit said, limiting Tubi's filing fees to $7,500. But the

streaming service said it is still unfairly shelling out tens of

thousands of dollars in arbitration and attorney fees fighting

Keller Postman's claims.

Keller Postman, which was founded in Chicago and has 75

lawyers, is not the first plaintiffs' law firm to be hit with

lawsuits over its arbitration tactics in recent months.

French skincare company L'Occitane accused Zimmerman Reed of

"manufacturing" mass arbitration claims under a California

wiretapping law by having people visit the company's website and

claim their privacy was violated by third-party tracking

software. The lawsuit and arbitration claims were dismissed by a

federal judge in April. Zimmerman Reed denied wrongdoing.

WarnerMedia last month accused Zimmerman Reed lawyers of

signing up as claimants in mass arbitration campaigns against

the company involving two other plaintiffs' firms, in an attempt

to get "improper insight" into how WarnerMedia responded to

demands and settlement offers.

Zimmerman Reed managing partner Caleb Marker criticized

WarnerMedia's effort to disqualify his law firm in an email to

Reuters. The firm has not yet formally replied to WarnerMedia's

petition in New York state court.

The case is Tubi Inc v. Keller Postman LLC, U.S. District

Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:24-cv-01616

For Tubi: Brandon Fox, Kelly Morrison and Sati Harutyunyan

of Jenner & Block

For Keller Postman: Not yet available

Read more:

WarnerMedia seeks to disqualify mass arbitration firm,

alleges ethics breaches

L'Occitane defeats mass arbitration bid in fight with

consumer law firm