Justin Baldoni, the actor and director involved in a legal drama against "It Ends With Us" co-star Blake Lively, has found himself under renewed scrutiny after a previously undisclosed lawsuit alleged that he wrongfully terminated a Black executive who raised racial inequities in the workplace.

The lawsuit was filed back in December 2020 by former Wayfarer Studios executive Shane Norman. In the filing, he claimed the company initially recruited him with promises of job security and professional advancement but noted that Wayfarer investor and executive Steve Sarowitz told him in the hiring process that they needed someone "who looks like you."

Once hired, Norman saw a "pattern of sidelining and tokenizing people of color" in the workplace, which he spoke up about while still employed. He was later demoted and fired.

"[Norman was] demoted, his pay was cut and he was ultimately terminated, while non-Black employees in similar circumstances received severance packages that he was denied," the filing claimed.

Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios jointly denied all accusations when the suit was initially brought in late 2020. By September 2021, a judge had dismissed several of Norman's claims. Although Norman initially attempted to appeal, he eventually chose to voluntarily dismiss his own lawsuit with prejudice, meaning he cannot refile it.

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations told the Los Angeles Times that Norman may have received approximately $150,000 in exchange for dropping the claims. The lawsuit remained unknown to the public until the newspaper revealed it.

This is not the first high-profile case in which Baldoni has been involved. In 2021, the actor faced a copyright infringement lawsuit from Travis Flores, who alleged that Baldoni's directorial debut film, Five Feet Apart, was strikingly similar to his unproduced screenplay, Three Feet Distance, which he had written in 2010 about two teens with cystic fibrosis falling in love. The lawsuit claimed that Baldoni had access to Flores's script through a mutual associate and incorporated elements from it into his directorial debut.

The case was short-lived, with Flores voluntarily dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice in March 2022. Flores passed away last year at the age of 33 due to complications from cystic fibrosis. Much like the case with Norman, the lawsuit remained largely unknown until recent investigations brought it to light.