Category Archives: Age Discrimination

Breaking: Fox News Sued by Obama Administration for Age and Sex Discrimination

October 1st, 2010

fox news.jpgThe blog is pretty certain this story will get more press in the coming days. The mainstream media will probably be all over a story that alleges Fox News violating federal anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation laws. This also reminds the blog of the local case brought by an older reporter for WSVN here in Miami – the result of which was a $1M verdict for the employee.

New York-based Fox News Network LLC, which owns and operates the Fox News Channel based in Washington, D.C., retaliated against news reporter Catherine Herridge after she complained to Fox that she was subjected to disparate pay and unequal employment opportunities because of her gender and age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, during 2007 Herridge made several complaints to management officials at Fox News about employment practices that she believed were discriminatory. Fox conducted an investigation into Herridge’s allegations beginning around December 2007, but notified Herridge that no evidence of age and sex discrimination had been found.

Around the summer or fall of 2008, Fox News included language in Herridge’s employment contract, which was set for renewal, that referenced Herridge’s discrimination complaints and was intended to stop Herridge from making more of them in the future, the EEOC charged. Herridge refused to sign the employment contract until the language was removed. Thereafter, Fox refused to negotiate further with Herridge, would not respond to counteroffers as to substantive issues in the proposed contract, and ceased speaking to her agent or to her about her contract.

As a result of Fox’s refusal to proceed with a new employment contract absent the retaliatory language, Herridge became an “at-will” employee without any job protections, causing her considerable stress, the EEOC alleged. It was only after Herridge filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, and an EEOC investigator conducted an on-site investigation, that Fox agreed to take out the retaliatory language and presented Herridge with a new contract with the retaliatory language removed, in June 2009 which she signed.

Retaliation against an employee for making a discrimination complaint violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (EEOC v. Fox News Network LLC, Civil Action No. 1:10-cv-01660) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement.

The EEOC’s lawsuit seeks monetary relief for Herridge, including compensatory and punitive damages and an injunction enjoining Fox News from engaging in further retaliation against employees based on their opposition to employment practices which the employee reasonably believes to be unlawful under the federal statutes enforced by the EEOC.

Posted in Age Discrimination, Retaliation, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment | Comments Off

$3M Settlement of Age Discrimination Class Action Against Republic Services

September 30th, 2010

Republic Services, Inc. and its subsidiary Republic Silver State Disposal, Inc., will pay $2,975,000 and provide other relief to a class of older workers, settling an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.
According to the EEOC, Phoenix-based Republic terminated and denied job transfer opportunities to about 21 employees over the age of 40 at its facilities in southern Nevada between 2003 and 2005 because of their age. The list of terminated employees includes garbage collectors, drivers, and supervisors, some of whom were employed by the company for more than 25 years. The EEOC contends that those jobs were then offered to younger employees who were subsequently held to lower performance standards. The EEOC further charged that Republic engaged in a form of hazing called “break him off,” in which some employees were worked to the point of exhaustion, often making it difficult for them to do their jobs.
The EEOC originally filed suit against Republic in 2004 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada (U.S. EEOC v. Republic Services, Inc., et al., CV04-1352-DAE (LRL) consolidated with Robert LaRocca and William Lacy v. Republic Services, Inc. et al., CV 04-1479-DAE (LRL), arguing that the alleged conduct was a direct violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA).
“No one should be harassed at work or forced out of a job for discriminatory reasons,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien. “The law clearly prohibits mistreatment or dismissal of older workers on account of their age, and no workplace should lose productive and valuable employees because of illegal age stereotyping.”
“Our hope is that other employers implement practices to ensure that age stereotyping does not occur in any facet of employment,” said P. David Lopez, General Counsel of the EEOC. “As illustrated by this settlement, the EEOC will insist on substantial and meaningful relief for victims of illegal age discrimination.”
Aside from the monetary relief, the parties entered into a three-year consent decree requiring Republic to:
* Designate a corporate equal employment opportunity compliance officer;
* Conduct an audit of its employment policies and procedures;
* Provide annual anti-discrimination training to its employees;
* Closely track any future discrimination complaints to conform to its obligations under the ADEA; and
* Provide annual reports to the EEOC regarding its employment practices.
“We appreciate the great efforts that Republic has made and will continue to make to ensure that age is not a factor in the workplace,” said Anna Park, Regional Attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles District Office whose jurisdiction includes Nevada. “Although employers may assume that younger employees are more efficient and less costly, this is simply not true.”

Posted in Age Discrimination, Class and Collective Actions | Comments Off

Former Miami News Anchor Wins Nearly $1M in Damages in Age Discrimination Case

August 13th, 2010

tvanchor.JPGA former news anchor for WSVN Channel 7 Miami (owned by Sunbeam Television) won a huge jury verdict earlier today. She was awarded nearly $750,000 in back pay, $97,000 in lost pension benefits, and $50,000 in punitive damages. The plaintiff is also entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs, which will likely exceed several hundred thousand dollars. The case is Mitzell v. Sunbeam Television Corporation and was tried in the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.
The defense was represented by Michael Casey, head of the Miami office of Epstein Becker & Green. Casey is a terrific employment lawyer so you can bet an appeal is being contemplated. (The plaintiff was apparently seeking $2M in back pay and $100,000 in punitives — so the verdict was less than what she was seeking).
The Sun-Sentinel covers the story (but not the verdict) here. The plaintiff alleged that she was fired because the station wanted a younger anchor. A south Florida jury agreed.
Sarelson Law Firm was the lead counsel in the Eleventh Circuit’s landmark age discrimination case Mora v. Jackson Memorial Foundation and has extensive experience representing older workers. (Ironically enough, Jackson Memorial was and is represented by Mr. Casey as well).

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