A former director of business and legal affairs at FremantleMedia North America Inc. has filed a lawsuit against the media company, alleging he was wrongfully terminated because of his age and replaced with a younger worker after being told by a boss she “needs a machine” in an indirect reference to how old he was.
Brian Hawk’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges discrimination, harassment, whistleblower retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment or retaliation, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
He was hired in October 2019 and was terminated last year, according to the suit.
Hawk is more than 40 years old, but the suit does not state his precise age at the time of his termination. He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A Freemantle representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Wednesday. Fremantle is a British television and production company that has distributed American game shows locally in the U.S. and worldwide.
According to the suit, Hawk was assigned a new supervisor in October 2021 who regularly commented that she preferred younger workers, the suit states.
“These comments ostracized Hawk and made him feel unwelcome in the workplace,” the suit states.
Two years later, the supervisor prevented Hawk and his team from attending an international business affairs and legal conference, further leading the plaintiff — the oldest member of his team — to believe his presence on the job was not appreciated, the suit states.
A few months later, a memo was sent out that, by its description of Hawk’s job duties, appeared to be a demotion, the suit states. A “shocked” Hawk inquired with a human resources representative to find out why, but got no answer, so he then questioned his supervisor, who also was dismissive of his inquiry, according to the suit.
A new supervisor assigned to oversee Hawk in November 2023 micromanaged him and limited his job duties while also showing kinder treatment to younger workers, the suit alleges.
Before he was terminated last March, yet another supervisor told Hawk that she “needs a machine,” which he believed alluded to her believe he was unable to work as fast as more youthful employees, the suit states. Freemantle was recruiting for Hawk’s position before he lost his job and his replacement was younger than him, according to the suit.
Hawk has suffered financial losses as well as emotional distress since losing his position, the suit states.