deVarona Sues ABC Sports for Alleged Discrimination

DeVarona Sues ABC Sports, Claiming Discrimination

Former Olympic medallist claims unlawful termination

New York, April 14, 2000 -- Donna deVarona , a two-time Olympic gold medallist in swimming in 1964 and a pioneer in women's sports, has sued ABC Sports, where she has worked for 26 years as a broadcaster, writer and produce, claiming unlawful termination because of age and sex.

DeVarona, a former president of Women's Sports Foundation and chairwomen of the 1999 Women's World Cup organizing committee, filed suit in Federal District Court in New York against ABC Sports and ABC Broadcasting.

According to The New York Times, in the suit, deVarona who will be 53 later this month, said she was warned by executives at the network that her advancing age was a detriment because ABC Sports wanted to reach younger demographics and capture the young 18-39 male market. She also said she was given fewer inferior-quality assignments, was paid less than male colleagues and was subjected to more stringent requirements than men in comparable positions, such as being forced to resign from her association with certain organizations, including the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors.

DeVarona, who was receiving $150,000 a year at the time of her termination, is seeking $50 million in compensatory damages.

A statement released by ABC Sports said that deVarona's role at the network had diminished greatly over the years because of the change in events covered by ABC Sports, including the loss of the Olympics. ABC Sports has not had broadcast rights to the Games since 1988.

Tough to Prove

It is a myth that discrimination suits that are easy victories for plaintiffs. As to the sex discrimination claim, if the network can prove "business necessity" for its decision to limit her broadcast time due to changes in programming and philosophy, that is a strong legal argument. Of course, if statements were made alluding to her sex as a basis for their decisions, her chances of success improve.

An age discrimination case is often more difficult to win. She would have to show that "but for" her age, she could do the work and was terminated because of that fact. If Olympic sports was her beat, the fact that ABC has not carried the Olympics since and will not carry the games for years to come demonstrates a non-discriminatory basis for the termination.