In their zeal to cater to youth, Hollywood executives routinely discard TV writers as they reach their silver years. As a result, the writers have filed a lawsuit alleging age bias. Their stories echo each other in the snubs suffered and the sudden lack of interest shown in them by Hollywood studios and production companies once they reached age 40.
Age is a delicate issue in any workplace.
Prudent businesses long have tried to avoid age bias or even the hint of it in their hiring or firing practices, as a series of high-profile lawsuits over the years have taught managers to be cautious. But that is not the case in Hollywood, claim lawyers representing the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that could develop into a legal bombshell for the entertainment industry and explode the self-proclaimed politically correct credentials of Tinseltown. For decades actresses have alleged studios sideline them once the first wrinkles appear. But this time the complaints are coming not from thespians but from TV writers 50 in all who say they have been graylined by an industry that s youth-obsessed and fails to understand that the best writers acquire their skills through years of trial and error. Who of the legal profession to defend them.