Rosalea Barker: Nothing left to win

Good Lord, this country is litigious! I’ve only been here ten years and have been contacted at least three times saying I may be eligible for money from a class action lawsuit. There are even websites and Facebook pages dedicated to telling you about current class actions to sign up for. Not all such lawsuits are settled in favor of the plaintiffs, of course. Just last March, American Express got out of paying anything to cardholders who had filed a class action regarding overpriced travel insurance. I think that might even have been the first one I was contacted about. Then there was one to do with Bank of America credit cards. Figuring a payout would be a) unlikely, and b) miniscule, I never signed up for either.

I’m so skeptical about these class actions, that when I got a folded single sheet of paper in the mail yesterday saying that I may be eligible for a portion of a $70 million payout by seventeen television networks and studios and seven talent agencies just for being over 40 and “interested in writing for television”, the first thing I did was look online to see if it was a scam. I mean, who isn’t “interested in writing for television”? Much to my surprise, it isn’t a scam, as this article on the AARP website attests. Formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, the AARP has a Legal Foundation, which assisted with the plaintiffs’ case.

Eight years ago, 150 television writers filed several suits claiming age discrimination, and in January a California judge gave preliminary approval to a $70 million settlement, with final approval expected in May. If approved, this settlement will be the largest age-discrimination settlement in US history. Pity the poor 150 TV writers; thanks to this sudden outreach to everybody and their dog, the $70 million is likely to be spread across several million plaintiffs.

The website for the settlement, including the lengthy claim form, is at www.TVWritersSettlementAdmin.com. The first two questions the claim form asks in order to see if you might be eligible to participate in the settlement: Are you over 40? Between October 22, 1996 and January 22, 2010, while age 40 or over, were you interested in writing for television or obtaining television writing talent agency representation?

So how do you prove you had an interest? From the claim form:

Have you, either alone or as part of a writing team, done any of the following:

(i) prepared any literary material for television, such as stories, teleplays, bibles, formats, treatments or synopses?

(ii) attended one or more workshops or courses, or otherwise participated in an educational program, designed to teach you how to write for television, submit a television script, or obtain television writing talent agency representation?

(iii) registered any literary material for television, such as stories, teleplays, bibles, formats, treatments or synopses, with the WGAE, WGAW, or any other similar registration service?

(iv) entered written material in a television scriptwriting competition?

(v) submitted written material?

I repeat, Good Lord! Workshops about writing for television are a huge industry. I’m bombarded with brochures about them all the time, presumably because I bought some scriptwriting software years and years ago and they sold their mailing list. Have those workshop people now sold on the mailing list to the counsel for the TV Writing Settlement?

And you don’t even have to have submitted anything anywhere or approached a studio or talent agency. From the “Deterrence” section of the claim form:

I was interested in obtaining television writing opportunities or television writing talent agency representation, but did not take any action in pursuit of that interest because I believed it would be pointless to do so because of my age.

And later:

I heard from others or read in generally available publications that television executives or talent agents made comments suggesting to me that they were interested only in younger writers.

Good Lord, again! This claim form is a veritable purse seine. I suppose the reason the net has to be cast so wide is that those who are contacted and don’t make a claim are no longer entitled to make a similar claim of discrimination in the future. According to this article on the Consumer Affairs website, less than one percent of class actions brought in California make it to trial. Instead, they are settled. Which may be just another word for nothing left to win.

Well, I’ll be sitting out this invitation to the dance as well. But if there’s ever a lawsuit where I can say Yes to the statement: I was interested in obtaining television writing opportunities or television writing talent agency representation, but did not take any action in pursuit of that interest because I believed it would be pointless to do so because of my complete lack of television writing ability, then I’m in! Of course, that just shows how daft I am. Judging by the plethora of badly written television shows we have to suffer here, lack of ability isn’t a deterrent, it’s a job requirement.

--PEACE—

rosalea.barker@gmail.com

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