Age Discrimination

A long and winding legal battle that raised uncomfortable questions about Hollywood's treatment of middle-aged and older TV writers was settled Friday, a decade after a class-action lawsuit alleged they were the victims of widespread age discrimination. Under the settlement, 17 major networks and production studios, along with seven talent agencies, agreed to pay $70 million to thousands of writers to resolve 19 claims. A group of 165 writers alleged that the networks, studios and talent agencies unfairly squeezed out writers older than 40 in their efforts to capture younger audiences, denying them employment on dramas and situation comedies.

A friend of mine had his name in the paper the other day. It was in an article speculating about who might inherit a prestigious post in the literary world when the current grandee retires. The article said that my friend would have led the list 10 years ago. Ouch! The obvious though unstated implication is that now he's too old. He just turned 60. He says he already has his dream job and didn't mind the idea that, because he is 60, some career opportunities have moved beyond his reach.

The Supreme Court gave the nation's older workers stronger protections against age bias Thursday, ruling that employers who are sued must prove their layoff policies are reasonable and do not have an unfair effect on employees because of their age. The 7-1 decision puts private companies and public agencies on notice that they must defend the criteria they use for layoffs if the cutbacks disproportionately affect older workers. For example, when employers reduce the workforce, they sometimes rate their workers in deciding who is to be let go. Usually, the ratings focus on specific skills and can include subjective criteria such as "flexibility" or "creativity."

A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury Wednesday unanimously rejected NBA great Elgin Baylor's wrongful-termination lawsuit against the Clippers. The jury of seven men and five women voted "no" to all of Baylor's claims that the Clippers, owner Donald T. Sterling and team President Andy Roeser oversaw a hostile workplace. Baylor, now 76, alleged he was harassed and subjected to age discrimination leading to his 2008 departure after 22 years as a Clippers executive. The jury deliberated for less than four hours.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury has ordered Nestle USA to pay $5.16 million to a former Glendale manager who filed an age-discrimination suit against the company. In what experts are calling an extraordinary decision, Judge Robert O'Brien on Thursday also ordered the company to tell all of its 19,000 U.S. employees of the ruling, and to tell them it is repudiating a 1993 memo written by an executive that outlines a plan to hire and promote "young people."

Well, I know I've finally arrived at "old age." I can't find a job in the area where I live because I'm too old. I think it is pretty sad when a person not only wants to work but needs to work and is not hired because she is 40-plus years old. I walk into different offices, look around, see basically what the average age is and I can tell whether I will get an interview or not. The look that comes across the faces of the employees whom I ask for...

An age discrimination lawsuit that charges Google Inc. with firing a manager deemed too old for the Internet company drew sharp questions from the California Supreme Court on Wednesday in a case sure to affect other age bias claims. A lawyer for the dismissed employee, Brian Reid, told the state high court that company e-mails showed Google preferred younger workers. Reid, who was hired as director of operations and engineering when he was 52 and fired two years later, was told by his supervisor that he was not "a cultural fit" for the company, said his lawyer, Paul J. Killion.

Allstate Corp. discriminated against older agents when it fired 6,200 employees in 2000, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a lawsuit. The insurer denied any wrongdoing. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Allstate, based in Northbrook, Ill., eliminated all of its employee-agents in 2000 and offered to rehire them as independent contractors with fewer benefits.

A group of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. employees sued the company, saying its employee evaluation system discriminates against older workers. A Goodyear spokesman said the company does not discriminate, but that it is revising the evaluation system to address workers' concerns. Retiree-advocacy group AARP and lawyers representing eight Goodyear workers filed the lawsuit in Ohio state court.

Dick Clark, the 74-year-old former host of "American Bandstand," was sued by a 76-year-old who claims he was denied employment because of his age. Ralph Andrews, who created and produced the television shows "Celebrity Sweepstakes," "You Don't Say" and "Liars Club," claims he was passed over for positions at Dick Clark Productions in favor of a 30-year-old. Andrews claims Clark told him in a letter that "people our age are considered dinosaurs."

Elgin Baylor's wrongful termination and age-discrimination civil lawsuit against the Clippers is expected to arrive in the hands of jurors Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. In closing statements Monday, the team's attorney blasted Baylor's claim and urged the panel to deprive him of any financial payoff. Ridiculing Baylor's complaints against team executives who asked him about his birthday and how he was feeling in the years before the NBA great's split with the team as executive vice president, Clippers attorney Robert Platt told jurors, "You'd have to have police at every workplace saying you can't sing, 'Happy Birthday.' " Baylor, 76, parted with the Clippers after 22 seasons in 2008 when the team offered him a $10,000 monthly consultant's package.

Elgin Baylor testified Monday in his wrongful-termination lawsuit against the Clippers, saying he felt  "insulted and humiliated" after receiving a letter in August 2008 that the team wanted him to become a consultant and retire after 22 years as an executive in the organization. "I felt sick to my stomach. I felt crushed," Baylor said as a seven-man, five-woman jury heard testimony in Los Angeles Superior Court. Baylor, 76, is suing the team, Clippers owner Donald Sterling and President Andy Roeser for wrongful termination based on age discrimination.

Elgin Baylor's wrongful-termination lawsuit against the Clippers tipped off Tuesday, with his attorney portraying the team as lacking a sincere commitment to success. Baylor's attorney, Alvin J. Pittman, in his opening statement, told the seven-man, five woman jury in Los Angeles Superior Court that Baylor was "positioned to take responsibility for the [team's] losses" when he was ousted in 2008 after 22 years as a Clippers executive. Pittman told jurors that current team President Andy Roeser once told Baylor, then executive vice president and general manager, that "teams sell one of two things: success or hope, and the Clippers sell hope.

Elgin Baylor on Friday dropped part of his wrongful-termination lawsuit that alleged the Clippers and owner Donald Sterling committed racial discrimination against him when Baylor was a team executive. Baylor, 76, is pressing ahead with the rest of his wrongful-termination claim that he suffered age discrimination and was unjustly fired. Baylor was the team's executive vice president and general manager for 22 years until August 2008. The defendants ? who also include team President Andy Roeser and the NBA ?

The heated legal and political battle over Proposition 8 might suggest that marriage equality is the last barrier to full participation in society for gays and lesbians. In fact, blatant discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation remains permissible in workplaces across the nation, an injustice Congress must rectify. Thanks to landmark laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, most workers must be judged on their abilities and job performance, not on irrelevant personal characteristics such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability.

An age discrimination lawsuit that charges Google Inc. with firing a manager deemed too old for the Internet company drew sharp questions from the California Supreme Court on Wednesday in a case sure to affect other age bias claims. A lawyer for the dismissed employee, Brian Reid, told the state high court that company e-mails showed Google preferred younger workers. Reid, who was hired as director of operations and engineering when he was 52 and fired two years later, was told by his supervisor that he was not "a cultural fit" for the company, said his lawyer, Paul J. Killion.

In the Jan. 10 story, "Sound of Gunfire Marks the Collision of Two Lives," the reference to Lana Clarkson's age as being a death sentence in Hollywood was truly beneath the level of a newspaper such as the Los Angeles Times. It is easily demonstrated as untrue; blonds over 40 such as Heather Locklear, Madonna and many others are happily in the media with amazing frequency. It is also against state and federal nondiscrimination laws in employment; all persons over the age of 40 are protected in employment unless age is a bona fide disqualifier.

A long and winding legal battle that raised uncomfortable questions about Hollywood's treatment of middle-aged and older TV writers was settled Friday, a decade after a class-action lawsuit alleged they were the victims of widespread age discrimination. Under the settlement, 17 major networks and production studios, along with seven talent agencies, agreed to pay $70 million to thousands of writers to resolve 19 claims. A group of 165 writers alleged that the networks, studios and talent agencies unfairly squeezed out writers older than 40 in their efforts to capture younger audiences, denying them employment on dramas and situation comedies.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed an age-discrimination lawsuit against AT&T Inc., the country's largest telecommunications provider. The agency said Dallas-based AT&T discriminated against older employees by denying them the chance to be rehired solely because they had retired under early retirement plans. The effect of this denial, the agency said, leads to a disproportionate number of older workers not having the same opportunity to apply for reemployment with the company as younger workers.