Many actresses and actors vie for spots in New York and Hollywood. In New York actors compete to be on Broadway and in Hollywood actors compete for roles in major films. One actress's suit against Amazon and its Internet Movie Database may have revealed a potential age discrimination issue in Hollywood.

Age discrimination is generally defined as treating an applicant or employee less favorably because of age. Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act employers are forbidden from discriminating against people age 40 or older. People under the age of 40 are not protected under the Act but may be protected by state law. Last fall, an actress filed a million-dollar suit against Amazon and Amazon's Internet Movie Database for identifying the woman's age on IMDB's website.

The lawsuit was likely not based on an age discrimination legal theory since Amazon or IMDB were not the actress's potential employer or employer, but the suit raised public awareness on potential age discrimination in television and film industry. Women over the age of 40 account for over 24 percent of the population in the United States, but according to the Screen Actors Guild only 12.5 percent of television and movie roles are filled by actresses over age 40. The proportion of men over age 40 who land roles is equal to proportion in the population.

A federal judge in Seattle dismissed the actress's suit last month because the actress filed an anonymous complaint. The actress who filed the suit is 40-years-old and according to her IMDB profile plays characters whose ages are 26 - 33. The actress recently refiled the suit using her real name.

Source: cbsnews.com, "Actress who sued Amazon over age IDs herself," Jan. 6, 2012