New York Times Sued for 'Deplorable,' 'Off-the-Record' Discrimination

The New York Times has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit alleging there’s a pattern of race, age and gender discrimination at one of the country’s largest news outlets. The suit takes specific aim at the paper's business advertising department.

The lawsuit says that the problems started when Mark Thompson was appointed CEO, despite controversy at his previous position at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

According to the complaint, this controversy includes burying an expose of child abuse that was allegedly committed by one of the company’s most well-known personalities, admitting that the company “had problems with the way it treated older women,” and biting the arm of a fellow employee.

The lawsuit claims that the decision to hire Thompson despite his past shows “a pattern of discrimination-oriented decision-making at the New York Times... a company dominated by male leadership.” The suit points out that only one woman sits on the company’s executive committee and that the paper’s first female executive editor, Jill Abramson, was allegedly fired after complaining that she was earning less than her male counterparts.

According to the complaint, the Times’ business advertising staff is becoming “increasingly younger and whiter.” Allegedly, Meredith Levien, as the executive vice president of advertising, urged that the workforce be filled with “fresh faces.” The suit even goes so far as to claim that she held a presentation where she displayed photos of older employees of color and critiqued them about their age, among other characteristics protected under civil rights laws. She even went as far as to say, according to the suit, that they needed employees who “look like the people we are selling to” and commenting that “this isn’t what our sales team should look like.” The suit also claims that younger, white employees were given “Summer Fridays” – but that older, non-white employees weren’t given such perks.

In addition to the suit, the plaintiffs - two female African-Americans - will also be filing discrimination charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The lawsuit seeks to cover three separate classes for people working in the Times' business division as account managers – for race, gender and age discrimination claims.