| TV Writers' CasesThe Writers' Class Action Age Discrimination Cases | ||
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Media Coverage |
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TV Scribes' Suit is One for Ages
Daily Variety By Janet Shprintz Summary: Twenty-eight television writers over the age of 40 filed a class-action lawsuit Monday against the major TV networks, studios and talent agencies, alleging that they intentionally engage in age discrimination when they make their hiring decisions. The named plaintiffs include Tracy Keenan Wynn, 55, whose work includes "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman"; Ann Marcus, who is in her 70s, whose credits include "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," "Knots Landing" and "Falcon Crest"; Jay Moriarty, 54, who worked on "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons" and "Maude"; and Art Eisenson, 58, whose credits include "Kojak.” The defendants include NBC, the Walt Disney Co. and ABC, Fox Entertainment Group, Time-Warner, Viacom and CBS, Columbia TriStar, DreamWorks and talent agencies such as CAA, ICM and the William Morris Agency. "It is not a secret that NBC and others in the TV industry have an open and notorious policy of not allowing older writers on their productions," said lead plaintiffs' attorney Paul Sprenger of Washington, D.C.'s Sprenger + Lang. "The talent agencies won't waste time on older writers. The agencies are aiding another Hollywood blacklist, only this time, it's a graylist." |
