A jury yesterday awarded $7.13M to former L.A. Times sports columnist T.J. SIMERS, who "contended the newspaper discriminated against him and forced him out of his $234,000-a-year job after he suffered a mini-stroke" in March '13, according to Kim Christensen of the L.A. TIMES. Jurors awarded Simers $330,000 for past lost wages, $1.8M for future economic damages and $5M "for past and future emotional pain and suffering." No punitive damages were awarded. The Times "plans to appeal" the decision. The verdict "capped a six-week trial that included testimony" from Simers, execs from the newspaper and former Dodgers manager TOMMY LASORDA. Simers sued the Times in October '13, alleging top editors "fired him as a columnist and subjected him to discrimination because of his age and a disability." He "suffered a mini-stroke" in March '13 covering Spring Training in Arizona. However, the newspaper "called his claims baseless," claiming Simers quit in September '13 after being "disciplined for failing to fully disclose to his editors an outside business relationship" with TV producer MIKE TOLLIN. The Times alleged that Simers hid that he and Tollin "had a longstanding business relationship and were trying to develop a father-daughter themed television project" based on Simers' life. Tollin had made a "short video" featuring Simers, his daughter and then-Lakers C DWIGHT HOWARD. Christensen notes the issue "came to a head in June 2013" when SportsBusiness Journal reported Tollin's Mandalay Sports Media was developing the TV show (L.A. TIMES, 11/5). Simers said that he sued the Times "as a way to help other journalists in an industry plagued by buyouts and layoffs of longtime employees in favor of younger, cheaper talent." He added that he hoped the verdict "can send a message to newspapers about the importance of keeping journalists with institutional knowledge" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 11/5).
