A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former NFL Enterprises camera crew assistant who sued the organization, alleging he was the victim of a management pattern of giving more shifts to younger employees and that he was not rehired after a coronavirus-related 2020 layoff because he was outspoken.
Adam Gotsens’ Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleged wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation and failure to prevent discrimination and retaliation. On Wednesday, Judge Rupert Byrdsong granted the NFL’s motion to dismiss Gotsens’ complaint, finding there were no triable issues.
In their court papers, NFL attorneys contended that contrary to Gotsens’ “outlandish and unsupported allegations, at no time did he complain about age discrimination or did he advocate for the rights of older workers” and that the plaintiff’s own deposition testimony undermined his lawsuit’s assertions.
Gotsens was let go due to the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the NFL’s attorneys’ court papers, which further stated that in 2020 the NFL laid off 20 out of 22 employees holding the same job as the plaintiff.
Gotsens was hired in September 2014 and assisted the camera crew on such shows such as “NFL Gameday” and “NFL Total Access,” as well as at football games, the suit stated.
Gotsens contacted human resources out of concern that a young, female newcomer with little experience was being given more shifts and opportunities than others who had worked for NFL Enterprises for many years, including older workers such as himself with more experience and skills, according to the suit.
“It is unheard of for a new (employee) to get more than one or two days a week, especially with no training,” Gotsens wrote. “This is unbelievably disrespectful to the people who have put years of their lives in this place.”
The NFL attorneys stated in their court papers that the young woman also lost her job during the layoffs.
Gotsens’ suit further stated that when human resources allegedly failed to address the matter, he complained to David Shaw, vice president of production, telling Shaw that he believed the worker in question could have been hired because of a personal relationship with personnel who played a role in deciding who to hire or schedule for shifts.
Gotsens asked Shaw to refrain from mentioning his name to the scheduling department so as not to lose shifts because he was a whistleblower, the suit stated. However, Shaw allegedly later told Gotsens that NFL Enterprises “saw things differently and did not believe that anything improper had occurred” in the younger employee’s hiring, the suit stated.
Gotsens continued to complain about younger employees getting more shifts than older veterans and when the pandemic started in 2020, many workers, including the plaintiff, were laid off, according to the suit, which further stated that Gotsens began inquiring later that year about returning to his job.
“Mr. Gotsens contacted NFL Enterprises on several occasions for work,” the suit stated. “However, NFL Enterprises simply stopped hiring him for shifts and has not hired him since.”
Gotsens believes that many of the younger, less experienced workers who were his onetime colleagues were rehired and that NFL Enterprises has refused to bring him back because he complained about management practices that the plaintiff thought violated federal or state law, the suit stated.