Same Old Story

Published December 17, 2011

A 60-year-old New York violinist sued the “Young Concert Artists” competition because he was excluded from it due to his age.

When the violinist sued for age-discrimination because he was barred from the Young Concert Artists competition there, his case was assigned to an 88-year-old judge. The violinist objected to the judge, alleging he was “too old” to hear his case. The judge stayed on the case but later tossed it out for paperwork defects.

The violinist re-filed the case, allegedly fixing the defects, but it was assigned to the same judge the second time around. “Well, that doesn’t make me feel that good in terms of fairness,” the violinist said. “Good! “Ha! That’s terrific,” said the director of the Young Concert Artists program. “I thought the judge was very fair.”

Source: Scott Shifrel, “Musician suing for age bias who complained about elderly judge reassigned same 88-year-old judge,” New York Daily News, October 25, 2011, via Faces of Lawsuit Abuse, a project of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform