So, there’s this big controversy because there was a singer who lied about his age when he applied to be on American Idol. Apparently, he was 29, and the cutoff was 24.
Well, I’ve always heard its illegal for a potential employer to ask for your age. Are the rules different regarding auditions?
IANAL (yet!), but there are exceptions to antidiscrimination laws when a compelling interest can be shown. I.e., you don’t need to consider white actors when casting for the part of Malcolm X. If American Idol is trying to create a teen pop sensation, they could argue that age is a relevant factor.
I also just thought up another angle: this is really more of a gameshow than a job application, so some discrimination rules probably go out the window there as well.
It’s also not an issue of being a potential employer as it is set up as a contest, and as Opus said the entertainment industry is exempt from such constraints if age is germain to the part being cast.
The first issue is that, IIRC, the federal age discrimination law only protects people 40 years old and up. However, if the applicable state has a more generalized law, this guy might have a case. But note that discrimination is protected not br criminal law but by the imposition of civil liability – that is, the injured party can sue, but the government won’t be prosecuting the case on their own as it does for murders or tax fraud. Therefore, unless and until someone actually does sue over this practice, it’s an open question whether it’s legal or not.
–Cliffy, Esq.