LOS ANGELES (AP) A lawsuit accuses Universal Studios of firing
an assistant director of ``2 Fast 2 Furious'' because he is black.
The suit, filed Tuesday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, said Frank Davis was fired because of his race and
replaced with a white assistant director. Davis had been personally
selected by the film's director, John Singleton, who is also black.
Universal said Davis was fired because of performance issues,
but the commission said there was no evidence of problems.
``Our investigation determined that Davis was fired over the
objection of the film's director,'' commission attorney Noelle
Brennan said in a statement. ``Almost every witness we interviewed,
including the director, stated that Davis' performance was never an
issue.''
Susan Fleishman, a spokeswoman for Vivendi Universal
Entertainment, said the company had no comment.
Davis' credits include ``Terminator 2: Judgment Day,''
``Seven,'' ``Rising Sun,'' and ``Courage Under Fire.''
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)