Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

story

Rejected 'Apprentice' Applicant Settles Age Discrimination Lawsuit Against Donald Trump

Associated Press
Published | Updated

BOSTON – A 51-year-old man who said he was not chosen to compete on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" because he was too old has settled a lawsuit against the real estate mogul.

A federal judge dismissed the age discrimination lawsuit Monday at the request of R. Joseph Hewett, who was 49 when he was turned down by the NBC reality show in July 2005.

"I have reached a settlement but I am prohibited from speaking about it other than to say it's satisfactory to all parties," Hewett said when reached by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The lawsuit was not about money, he said.

• Keep up with the Donald in FOXNews.com's Donald Trump Celebrity Center.

"This was never about a disgruntled applicant trying to get back at (Trump's) organization, it just gave me an opportunity to advocate on behalf of a protected class," he said. "This was about the fact that I believe an entire class was aggrieved."

"The Apprentice," which was left off NBC's 2007-2008 prime-time schedule, placed eager would-be executives against each other in competition for a job with one of Trump's companies. Trump eliminated contestants at the end of each episode with the words "You're fired!"

Hewett alleged in his lawsuit, filed in January, that Trump, his companies and associated producers were in violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and that only two finalists in the first six seasons were over the age of 40. NBC was not named.

A Trump spokesman denied age discrimination when the lawsuit was filed, saying very few applicants for the show were over 40 and noting that Trump had actively sought "all age groups."

The spokesman did not immediately return a telephone call and e-mail Tuesday.

Hewett, who describes himself as a technology manager at a commercial real estate company, said he was qualified for the show because he graduated magna cum laude from college and because of his "many years of experience maintaining large commercial properties."

• Keep up with the Donald in FOXNews.com's Donald Trump Celebrity Center.