What is the current state of the law regarding age discrimination in the entertainment industry?

This is the latest, but not the last, chapter in a story that began in the year 2000, when a number of television writers filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against various networks, studios and talent agencies, alleging an industrywide pattern or practice of age discrimination. It is unnecessary to recite the history of the litigation or the details of the current lawsuits, all of which are described in Alch v. Superior Court (2004) 122 Cal.App.4th 339 [19 Cal.Rptr.3d 29] (Alch). Suffice it to say that the present litigation involves 23 separate class action lawsuits filed by hundreds of writers (writers or petitioners) against 12 different groups of related television networks, studios and production companies (the employers) and 11 talent agencies. The writers challenge the hiring practices of the employers, and the allegedly discriminatory representation and referral practices of the talent agencies. In addition to claiming disparate treatment on the basis of age, the writers allege the employers use facially neutral practices that have a disparate impact on older writers.