We told you this week that Horst Brandt, a man of
German descent who oversaw Trinity Broadcasting Network’s computer
systems,
filed a lawsuit charging the TV ministry with age discrimination, among
other things.
In addition to hiring Brandt as an independent contractor
rather than a regular employee (which is cheaper for TBN), and in addition to
slurs referencing Brandt’s national origin (“Horst runs his department like
Nazi Germany during World War II”), the suit maintained that Trinity fired
fired Brandt because he was getting long in the tooth.
Network bigwigs (such as Paul and Jan Crouch,
left) referred to Brandt as “an old dinosaur,” the building where Brandt worked
was regularly referred to as “the old folks home,” and senior officials were
seeking ways to shave older workers off the payroll, according to statements
filed by Crouch granddaughter Brittany Koper, who was then head of human
resources for Trinity.
Trinity
denied the allegations and filed a cross-complaint
against Brandt, accusing him of breach of contract, fraud and
misappropriation of trade secrets.
Well, after a year of courtroom wrangling, the parties
reached a settlement this week. The deal is confidential, and our requests for
detail were met with silence from the attorneys directly involved.
We did, however, get an electronic earful from Tymothy
MacLeod, who is representing Brittany Koper as she accuses
the world’s largest Christian broadcaster of playing fast and loose with the
ministry’s millions.
MacLeod notes that the settlement notice “does not
specify how much TBN paid Mr. Brandt, and it doesn’t surprise me that TBN wants
to avoid broadcasting the fact that they are willing to compromise employment
claims like Mr. Brandt’s,” he told us in an email that continued thusly:
“For years, TBN had maintained a bully reputation in the
OC employment law community as unyielding and relentless in their defense of
employment disputes. TBN spent exorbitant amounts of its ‘charitable’ proceeds
on lawyers to achieve that reputation for one purpose: to send a message of
intimidation to its own employees. Yet, TBN in-house counsel John Casoria’s
uncompromising reputation is a sham, like so much at TBN.
“I hope that TBN’s employees, along with the plaintiff’s
bar in Orange County, take notice of this settlement. It is, I think, symbolic
of things to come. Mr. Brandt was able to find very decent attorneys, who were
not only excellent litigators, but also honest. From my observations, the
Feldman firm put Mr. Brandt’s interests first and achieved a settlement for
him, rather than pursuing the class action storm that is brewing here. Yet,
TBN’s discriminatory policies toward elderly employees – as reflected in the
recent settlement with Mr. Brandt – need to be redressed on a larger scale.
TBN’s former HR director, Brittany Koper, testified about that pattern of
discrimination by TBN against aging employees in the Brandt matter, as well as
the underpinnings of those policies in TBN’s self-funded insurance schemes. Ms.
Koper has previously explained in court records how TBN’s founder expenses his
private chauffeur as a ‘medical benefit,’ while the company pushes other
elderly employees to leave TBN before they become a ‘drain’ on TBN’s
self-funded medical plan. That is simply despicable, and I am proud to have
stood by Ms. Koper while she helped do something to right that wrong in Horst
Brandt’s case.
”The bottom line is that there is a lot of work here for
employment attorneys in Orange County, and TBN employees should no longer be
intimidated to do something about their situation.”
More nonprofits:
- Suit
alleges TBN covered up rape of 13-year-old
- From
beloved granddaughter to exiled accuser: Brittany Koper and TBN
- Settlement
reached in TBN age discrimination case
- TBN
suit: Senior workers ‘too old, too sick, and too lazy'
- Mystery
math: How much do CSU bigwigs make?
- Relatives
threatened to ‘destroy' Crouch granddaughter
- TBN
extravagance? Read internal memos for yourself
- TBN
to judge: Stop Watchdog blogger
- Extravagant
spending a pervasive issue for Trinity, internal review says
- Confidential
memo: ‘TBN practices ... violate the IRS Code'
1 comment:
You can see a lot more class action settlements at www.mysettlementclaims.com
I already claimed $500 thanks to them!
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