The Artful Jurist

Maybe Jack Benny was right to remain 39 years old all those years. Television isn't so keen on the over-40 crowd. At least, that's what one might read into the $70 million settlement in a class action suit that alleged that the TV industry discriminated against writers who were 40 or older.

More than 100 plaintiff writers sued about 20 TV production companies and agencies on the claim that they systematically kept writers over 40 from attaining work in the industry. This past January, a settlement was announced, and now the laywers for the plaintiffs are collecting the names of everyone who qualifies for inclusion in the class that will split the money. The deadline to apply is April 13, 2010. There's a website specifically for this class action.

Now, before you get too excited about the prospect of a little quick cash, you're going to have to offer some evidence other than just your word that you qualify for inclusion. The website specifies what that evidence might be.