A judge has ruled that a former director of business and legal affairs at FremantleMedia North America Inc. will not have to arbitrate his claims that he was wrongfully terminated because of his age and replaced with a younger worker.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dean J. Kitchens issued his ruling in plaintiff Brian Hawk’s lawsuit on Tuesday after having heard arguments in the case on Aug. 22 and taken the issues under submission.
“On balance, the court concludes that defendants have not proven the existence of the arbitration agreement by a preponderance of the evidence … after plaintiff’s challenge to its authenticity,” the judge wrote. “Accordingly, the court does not find that a valid agreement to arbitrate exists between the parties and defendants’ motion is denied.”
The judge had said in a tentative ruling that he was leaning toward granting the arbitration motion.
Hawk’s lawsuit alleges discrimination, harassment, whistleblower retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment or retaliation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress as well as discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex and gender.
Fremantle is a British television and production company that has distributed American game shows locally in the U.S. and worldwide. Fremantle attorneys argued that Hawk was bound by a November 2019 employment agreement to take his claims before an arbitrator rather than a jury.
Hawk was hired in October 2019. He is more than 40 years old, but the suit does not state his precise age at the time of his 2024 termination. 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 originally filed Jan. 15 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 in March 2024, yet another supervisor told Hawk that she needed “a machine,” which he believed alluded to her believe he was unable to work as fast as more youthful employees, the suit states.