The age discrimination lawsuit alleges that the Hallmark CEO said she didn’t want to cast “old talent,” offering Holly Robinson Peete and Lacey Chabert as examples, claiming they didn’t fit the channel’s image.
Penny Perry, 79, a casting director who has been with Hallmark for nearly a decade, filed the lawsuit Oct. 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
In it, she accused defendants Hallmark Executive Vice President of Programming Lisa Hamilton Daly, Senior Vice President of Programming and Development Randy Pope and Vice President of Human Resources Paul Hodgkinson of wrongful termination, age and disability discrimination, defamation, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Perry alleges Hamilton Daly decided she was “too old to work in her position and maneuvered to push her out of the company” as part of her goal to find “new talent.”
Irina Shayk, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Aniston and other famous stars in Hollywood are convinced of aging
“We need to bring in someone who knows more young talent,” the executive said of Perry, according to the suit. “Our leading ladies are getting old.” Hamilton Daly reportedly singled out Robinson Peete, 60, Chabert, 42, Teri Hatcher, 59, and several others as “old talent” who needed to be “replaced.”
“Lacey is getting old and we need to find someone like her to replace her as she ages,” Hamilton Daly reportedly said. She also said that “nobody wants” Robinson Peete. “It’s too expensive and getting too old. She can no longer play leading roles.”
Hallmark denied the allegations in a statement to Diversity and Deadline. “Lacey and Holly have a home in Hallmark. We generally do not comment on pending litigation. And while we deny these outrageous accusations, we will not talk about the employment relationship in the media,” the statement reads.
Holly Robinson Peete on September 28, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
Perry, a film and television casting director since the 1970s, said she received strong annual performance reviews, including one in February, but was abruptly fired in April. She states that she was fired and replaced by a younger man. According to the complaint, Hamilton Daly repeatedly told her she was “too long in the tooth.”
Perry claims the “vile and ageist behavior” is “straight out of Hallmark’s game when they tried to fire other employees in their 60s and 70s because of their age.”
She claims she was excluded from meetings, her office was moved to another floor, and on one project her casting responsibilities were outsourced to an outside consultant. Also, according to the lawsuit, Perry alleges that the studio failed to accommodate her multiple sclerosis and blindness in one eye.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2)/lacey-chabert-6-7067592d4f754eea9d3f4dfb6b59de85.jpg)
Lacey Chabert on Hallmark Channel’s “Home and Family” 2019.
Paul Archuleta/Getty
Never miss a story — subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Perry’s attorneys and a representative for Hallmark did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Wednesday.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education