Sony Pictures Television Inc. won a round in court when a judge ordered arbitration of a woman’s claims that she was wrongfully fired in 2025 from her job of senior vice president of current programming due to her age, 60 years old at the time.
Plaintiff Wendy Baxter also contended in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that her termination was part of the company’s retaliation for her complaints about alleged discrimination against older women. Baxter oversaw the adaptation and production of hit television shows in international markets.
On Thursday, Sony attorneys filed notice that Judge Steven A. Ellis had approved their motion to compel arbitration of all of Baxter’s causes of action and that the lawsuit was being placed on hold. A status conference was scheduled for July 14, 2027.
In his ruling, the judge noted that in support of its motion, Sony provided a declaration from Jacqui Ngo, director, Operations in People & Organization, for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. Ngo said she sent Baxter an employment agreement in April 2022 that contained an arbitration clause and that the plaintiff signed it the same day.
The judge said that while there was “some degree of procedural unconscionability” in the record, the overall employment agreement was not unfairly weighted in favor of Sony.
From 1995 through February 2025, Plaintiff was employed off-and-on by Sony, starting first in 1995 through 2003. After stints with Disney and the WB Network, and an eight-year freelance position with Sony, the plaintiff returned to fulltime employment with Sony in 2012.
As senior vice president of current programming, Baxter was responsible for the development and production of Sony’s television programming, which generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits annually, the suit states.
Baxter oversaw the adaptation and production of such hit television shows as “The Nanny,” “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Married… with Children” for international markets in the Russian-speaking world, China and Korea, as well as developing local programming for those markets, the suit stated.
In 2023, Baxter determined that, despite her successful and profitable work on Sony’s behalf, she was allegedly paid significantly less than men doing substantially similar work. When Baxter complained about the discrepancy to her superiors, she was given a $50,000 annual raise, the suit stated.
But Baxter was still paid significantly less than her male colleagues in similar roles and after voicing her complaints and receiving the $50,000 raise, she found she had a target on her back and she never received another meaningful raise, the suit stated.
As Baxter neared her 60th birthday, she noticed that Sony had few women over the age of 60 in leadership positions and that women over 65 in leadership positions were “virtually non-existent,” the suit states. Baxter was fired in February 2025, three months after she turned 60, the suit states.
Two other women in their 60s were terminated the same day, including one who had been with Sony for 30 years, the suit further states.