By Shant Shahrigian
New York Daily News
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Five NY1 journalists sued the news channel over the summer, accusing management of marginalizing them to make room for younger women.
New York
Three of the NY1 anchors suing their news channel for gender and age discrimination gave heartfelt testimony in support of City Council legislation aimed at fighting ageism.
“It is truly unfortunate that our society remains reluctant to place value on older workers, and especially older women,” anchor Vivian Lee said Tuesday.
NY1 reporter Amanda Farinacci applauded bills requiring the city to create a task force to end age discrimination, and to establish regular investigations into ageism at local employers, among other measures.
The bills send “a powerful, powerful message to employers like NY1 that ageism has a very real impact on employees like Vivian and me and Marisol (Seda) and our … other co-plaintiffs,” Farinacci said alongside her colleagues.
NY1 journalists sued the news channel over the summer, accusing management of marginalizing them to make room for younger women.
Legislation from Councilwoman Margaret Chin (D-Manhattan) is aimed at putting a stop to such practices.
“We all have heard, all felt the sting of ageism in our jobs. And we’re tired of being swept under the rug,” she said at a rally on the City Hall steps.
“Age discrimination is bred by a toxic workplace culture that results in job loss, financial strain and perpetuate the myth that when you hit a certain age, you’re no longer valued in the economy,” the councilwoman added. “And that is not true.”
The measures come after the city’s Commission on Human Rights last year received 193 age-related inquiries, according to Chin’s office, with 119 of those issues related to employment.
Chin’s bills, two of which were co-sponsored by Councilwoman Diana Ayala (D-Bronx), got AARP’s blessing.
“This legislative package says very, very clearly that New York City will value older New Yorkers and will not tolerate age discrimination,” said Beth Finkel, state director of AARP NY. “It’s about time.”
A few dozen AARP activists stood behind her as she spoke.
One of them recalled being fired from her banking job due to age discrimination.
“I got training for something else. They didn’t employ me because they think I was too old,” said Elaine Chen, 70, of Queens.
“There are so many people out there right now that are looking for work. And because of their age … I see them not getting it.”
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