Reality television has generated some litigation and the latest involves the popular show The Apprentice. Early in January, a rejected Apprentice applicant sued the Trump organization for age discrimination in the way contestants are selected for the show. The case, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, is a potential class action and alleges a pattern of age discrimination over six seasons for the NBC series.
Hmmm. I've certainly noted that the people who are “apprentices” on the program are not an inclusive cross-section of America. For one thing, they all seem to be really, really telegenic. They all have great hair, great teeth and great physiques. In fact, the suit alleges that over 100,000 people have applied for the show and exactly two selected participants have been over the age of 40. That accounts for a lot of the telegenicity, I imagine.
But at the same time, no one really believes that applying to work for Donald Trump by getting on a television program is really just a standard job application process. These people are not competing for a job, they're auditioning for television. I could see a fairly straightforward bona fide occupational qualification defense raised by NBC to the effect that “we are looking for people who will star in these ‘roles’, as opposed to being simply job applicants”. And, ladies and gentlemen, putting good looking people (let me make that good looking, young people) into "roles" is a pretty well established entertainment industry job requirement.
It will be interesting to see how the district court applies the ADEA in this kind of a situation. But I think the first line of defense will be that auditioning for a television show does not allow you to use the same analytical legal model as interviewing for a job at The Office.
The case is No.1:07-cv-10007 (D. Mass.)