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Television Writers To Continue Pursuit of Age Discrimination Claims Filed by Sprenger + Lang, AARP, Others In Los Angeles Superior Court

Sprengerlang.com
Published: February 26, 2002

For Immediate Release

Los Angeles – In the second chapter of their efforts to end age discrimination that has prevented them from finding work in the television industry, more than 150 television writers on Monday afternoon filed 23 separate class action lawsuits in Los Angeles Superior Court against many of the industry’s biggest and best-known companies.

The lawsuits name television’s most powerful players, including networks NBC, ABC, FOX, WB, CBS and UPN, studios such as Disney’s Touchstone, Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox, and talent agencies like William Morris, ICM, CAA, Shapiro Lichtman and Broder Kurland.

The plaintiffs initially filed a single suit in federal court against essentially the same defendants on October 25, 2000. In a decision issued January 24, 2002, however, Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled that the defendants could not be sued in a single lawsuit.

The filing of additional lawsuits came in direct response to Judge Wilson’s order, according to the television writers’ lead counsel, Paul C. Sprenger of Sprenger + Lang.

“Judge Wilson told us that we couldn’t sue all of the defendants in one class action case, so we have sued each of them separately,” Sprenger explained. “He also told us that federal age discrimination laws do not apply to talent agencies, so we have sued all of the defendants under California state law in the Los Angeles Superior Court.”

“Given the television industry’s unusual hiring process, it simply doesn’t make sense to sue the television networks and studios in federal court and the talent agencies in state court,” he added.

Mr. Sprenger said that the basic allegations, and the defendants in the litigation, have not changed. The television writers claim that each defendant has engaged in a pattern or practice of refusing to hire or represent them because of their age. They claim that their inability to obtain writing positions and representation is largely the result of invidious ageist stereotyping. The major difference, other than the number of lawsuits, is in the number of television writers participating as plaintiffs – a number that has roughly tripled to 150. According to Mr. Sprenger, even more are expected to join.

With the increase in the number of plaintiffs comes an increase in the number of reported incidents of overt age bias. Some officials have made the discrimination public, such as Marta Kauffman, co-creator of the NBC show “Friends,” who opined, “Once you hit 40, you can’t do it anymore,” and Gary David Goldberg, producer of the ABC/Dreamworks show “Spin City,” who stated that the program had “no writers on the set over the age of 29 – by design.” The complaints make clear that the same illegal sentiments are expressed repeatedly to older writers privately.

Among the scores of examples is a statement to one plaintiff by a producer of the NBC show “Suddenly Susan” that NBC management had advised her that freelance writing opportunities “should only be given to writers who were in their twenties or early thirties,” and the statement to another plaintiff that the NBC show “Empty Nest” “already had [its"> gray.”

This type of stereotyping of older writers has made it very difficult for them to find employment. The complaints allege, for example, that in the 1997-98 season, 2/3 of the prime-time series on the broadcast networks did not employ one writer over the age of 50.

“If the stereotypes had been directed against women or members of a racial group, everyone would be up in arms,” Sprenger said. “Numerous powerful figures in Hollywood apparently believe, however, that directing such comments against older writers is not only legal, but unquestionable.”

The plaintiffs in this case are represented principally by the nationally known employment litigation law firm of Sprenger + Lang, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis. It has obtained two of the nation’s three largest age discrimination judgments in class action suits against First Union Bank and Ceridian Corp.

Sprenger + Lang also has associated with three other promnent employment law firms – Kator, Scott & Parks, Washington, D.C., Schwartz, Steinsapir, Dohman & Sommers of Los Angeles, and AARP Foundation – to prosecute these multiple class actions.

For more information on the litigation, visit the website at www.writerscase.com