Oct 18 2011 03:13 PM ET

Woman sues IMDb for revealing her age

Tags: , , News

EW has confirmed that a 40-year-old Texan actress (who is withholding her name due to “fear of retaliation”) has sued Amazon and its subsidiary the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) for revealing her age publicly on the movie site. In papers filed from the from the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington (Seattle) last Thursday, the woman claims that, after she signed up for IMDbPro to boost her career, the site cross-referenced public records against her credit card information to determine her age, then posted her age online. She further alleges repeated requests to have the information removed were denied.

The complaint claims this was a fraudulent act that violated her privacy and breached the terms of the Subscriber Agreement and Privacy Policy she signed. The actress says her career and livelihood have been compromised by the IMDb’s “malicious, intentional, oppressive, outrageous” and “callous” unwillingness to take down her real age. She is seeking $75,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages, plus attorney’s fees.

Comments (74 total) Add your comment
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  • The Gosling Effect

    Big Brother is watching…good for her sue the Jerks!..hope she sets it!

    • Jason C.

      You’re kidding right? Anytime anyone signs up on IMDb they’re information shows up, and it’s not like birth dates are not available in the public domain. If her birthday wasn’t on there someone would just have to spend a few extra minutes looking it up.

    • Alan

      Oh please. Maybe she’d land more roles if she had talent and auditioned more.

    • stan

      All you have to do is count her rings, and there you have it!

  • The Gosling Effect

    *gets

  • What?

    ROFL Her age is public record.

  • Eric P

    Was it Jenna Maroney?

    • George

      Haha! Sounds a lot like something Ms. Maroney would do!!! Love it!

    • Chris

      Lmao, I was thinking about her too.

  • Jackson

    How idiotic. I hope her name gets released and she never works again. Maybe if she would spend more time practicing her craft and less time wasting taxpayers’ money she wouldn’t have to worry about her age to get an acting job.

    • Bob Smith

      Says the idiot who is NOT an actor. It’s the casting directors who look on IMDb and could potentially age discriminate against an actor. Yes you could search other public records to find it but the casting people do not have the time or inclination to do that BUT, when you stick it right there where they see it when they are checking your credits, THAT is when we can get discriminated against. It is so easy for no actors to criticize us for our concerns, but would YOU like it if your HOME ADDRESS or daughter’s cell number were put on a public website? Just try to be a little understanding before crapping all over someone else’s VALID concerns about getting work. Think about it.

      • Jane

        I’m not an actor, but I agree with you, Bob. As a TV producer in Hollywood, I have lost jobs for being too old, and I’m just 40 and work behind the scenes. One time I interviewed with an EP on Survivor and when my age came up in the conversation, the guy’s face dropped and he said, “I thought you were 26″ with a disappointed voice, like my age was being held against me. So I go out of my way to keep my personal info off all my accounts. My age isn’t on my imdb account, but if I found it on there, I’d lose my mind and want to sue too because it would definitely effect my chances of getting future work.

    • Bob Smith

      I’m sure just because you are sitting home collecting welfare or unemployment you assume everything is tied to the government. She is exercising her Constitutional rights to seek redress when wronged, just like you use government assets to process your social welfare checks.

      • Big Swede

        Shouldn’t she really be suing the casting directors/studio/industry that is supposedly doing the actual “age discrimination”? Otherwise, she’s a willing participant who implicitly says “it’s ok so long as it’s not me”.

      • Reed Adam

        You know, Bob, i’d been leaning towards your argument before that little ‘welfare’ remark. It’s that kind of self-entitlement crap that causes the public to view actors as something other than real people.

  • April Swanson

    I don’t see why she cares so much. At her age, she could still play a high school student on the CW.

    • Eric

      HA HA! Good one!

  • kyle

    Is it me or has there been an lot more lawsuits about really stupid things lately??

    • April Swanson

      I was gonna post this. I’ll see you in court for comment theft.

      • tina

        if you really were a Swanson, you would not believe in government and therefore see no point in court.

        I am suing you for the defamation of the Swanson name. This will be no fun at all.

      • April Swanson

        That was the Snake Juice talking.

      • Mr. Sawnson

        The hypocracy of this countersuit is maddening. You two women need to settle this argument the way our family always has. You are to arrive at the home of Tammy Swanson by dusk; the family mash will be waiting. Afterwards, the winner will get to go hunting, and the loser has to watch in envy as the winner gets to dress the deer.

    • Mike

      I dunno, remember the McDonald’s lawsuit from back in the day where the woman sued because she didn’t know her coffee was going to be hot? I’ve yet to see that one topped. :-)

      • Elaine

        Actually, the hot coffee case had serious merit to it. The coffee was not just hot, but so hot the woman got very serious 3rd degree burns from it. MacDonalds keeps their coffee about 35 degrees hotter than a “normal” cup. I watched a documentary on that specific case.

    • Mike B

      No. It has been going on since someone spilled hot coffee on themselves and some idiot Judge awarded the plaintiff.

      • Mike

        Great Mikes think alike. lol

      • jmcg

        That’s a common misconception because people are too lazy to do the research. That old lady who sued McDs received severe burns from the hot coffee, it looked like somone set the inside of her thighs on fire. She was a passenger in the car, not the driver and the car was parked, not in motion. She initially asked for McDs to pay her medical bills which amounted to thousands of dollars (because of the skin grafts), which she couldn’t afford on her SSI. But they wouldn’t pay so she had to sue. If you sat on that jury and heard the actual facts of the case, then you probably would have awarded her the million dollar judgment too. You should look at the documentary on HBO called “Hot Coffee”.

      • And Justice For All

        Anyone who knows anything about that case knows it was far from frivilous. The plaintiff needed skin grafts from spilling hot coffee on their clothed body — The defendant had already settled numerous prior complaints about their too hot coffee and yet still felt they didn’t need to lower the temp of it and fyi said company after losing this “frivilous” suit has since lowered the temp of their coffee.

    • Michelle Falkovich

      I got sued for burning my ex-husbands dinner and my parrot sued me for giving her regular water instead of the expensive bottled brand ;)

  • This is dumb

    Your age is not PII (Personal Identity Information) so this case is nothing. Any press outlet can print your age and they often do.

    Fake New Network (FNN), Women, 40 from Texas, is sues Imdb on the most baseless litigation of the week alleging the release of her DOB caused her bodily harm and she is not able to work, date or marry. She seeks one billion dollars+ punitives as remedy.

    • Bob Smith

      They may print your age but not your DATE OF BIRTH, which is one piece of information needed to steal an identity. If that does not bother you personally I dare you go ahead and post your name, home town and DoB publicly.

  • Dicazi

    I’ve Googled several different actors and others to find out their ages. That’s almost certainly not the only place her age was posted. As stated, DOB is public knowledge.

  • Jackie

    Just let the old bat try to collect. Ha!

  • Felix

    “Ever since IMBd published my age, animals attack me and I frequently have to dodge falling pianos. Also, every man I kiss explodes. I am suing over this disgraceful, vicious, vile, evil, sadistic, godless, satanic behavior.”

    • miss k

      THIS.

    • CameronJ

      Never thought I would laugh so hard on an EW comments page.

  • kyle

    I know it says women but I would laugh my ass off if like where the picture of this person is it says Tobais Funke

  • hmmm…

    Now THIS is funny.

  • bill

    Maybe it was Blanche Devereux….

  • T

    Seriously ?
    This is a frivolous lawsuit that’ll get tossed out fast.

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