Over 150 plaintiffs, all members of the Writers Guild of America, initiated 23 separate class action lawsuits in the Los Angeles Superior Court asserting that broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, UPN and WB), studios and talent agencies systematically discriminate against television writers age 40 and older. Relying on widespread public acknowledgements of age discrimination – for example, the producer of the series Spin City stated that the program had "no writers on the set over the age of 29 by design" – the plaintiffs claim that networks and studios systematically refuse to hire older writers and talent agencies systematically refuse to represent or refer older writers for television writing opportunities. Plaintiffs also rely on Guild compiled statistics showing that 2/3 of all prime time television series did not employ one writer age 50 or older during the 1997-98 season, the season for which plaintiffs currently have data.

In September 2004, the California Court of Appeal ruled that the plaintiffs are entitled to proceed with their claims. The California Supreme Court denied the defendants’ petitions for review of the Court of Appeal decision on December 22, 2004. Counsel anticipate that following an initial period of peremptory judicial challenges, the parties will proceed in Superior Court with full-scale discovery in the Spring of 2005. Additional information is available at www.writerscase.com.

Co-counsel in the matter are Sprenger & Lang, Washington, DC, AARP Foundation Litigation, Washington, DC, Schwartz, Steinsapir, Dohrmann & Sommers LLP, Los Angeles.

e-mail us about the Writer's Guild class action at:
writersguild_classaction@kator-parks.com