This is not quite just in....the article went out on the AP Wire late yesterday afternoon...but it seems that some disgruntled Apprentice wanna-be is suing The Donald, and everyone else involved with the series, for age discrimination. The plaintiff is Richard Hewett, an IT guy from New Hampshire.
Hewett was 49 when he was rejected in July 2005, and claims in his lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court that only two of the finalists covering six seasons have been over 40. He alleges Trump and the show's producers are in violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
"People watching it get the impression that if you want to work for a big organization like the Trump Organization you have to be young," Hewett told The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday. He's seeking unspecified damages.
I went over to the Trump blog to see if Donald has responded to this shot across the bow, but in his latest personal post he's still cranking on what a loser Rosie is. (Talk about sandbox 'na-nee, na-nee, poo-poo'.)
Trump has released a statement, however:
"We have had very few people over a certain age apply to be on the show," said Trump, the show's executive director. "If they did and we liked them, we would love to cast them on the show."
The candidates have ranged from age 21 to 41.
From what I've seen - and I watch the shoe occasionally, but not regularly - of the over a million people (!) who have tried out for The Apprentice, they haven't managed to choose many finalists who weren't fit, don't have good teeth - and don't have better hair than the apprentice-master himself. I sense a class action suit coming on.
But for the life of me, I can't imagine why anyone over a certain age (mid-twenties?) would want to be on the show for a minute. You get to a point in your life and in your career where you no longer want to eat dirt or crow or whatever the candidates on that show do when they have their close encounters with The Donald. You get to a point where you are unable to do the currying and sucking up that this show seems to demand. ("Oh, Mr. Trump, I just want to thank you for the wonderful opportunity." Sniff, sniff. "And I also want to say that you're making a big mistake.")
Who would want to have their less than stellar moments captured on camera? Who would want to have the management team - Donald, George, Carolyn/Ivanka - criticize their performance (and their personal attributes) for the TV audience? Who would want to feign interest as one of the world's biggest business blow-hards goes on about how everything he sets his hand to turns into the biggest, best, foremost whatever?
And who would want to live in a dorm room - no matter how glitzy the address - and sleep in a twin bed with a roommate; be away from family, friends, colleagues, home, comfort, and stuff and live for a couple of months in a tense, conniving, and phoney environment; and share the bathroom with a complete stranger?
All for the honor of getting a "six-figure salary" and the opportunity of a lifetime to work on some over-the-top Trump project.
No thanks. I think I'll just stay in my comfy chair with the channel cruiser.
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