WHY ARE LEFTY INSTITUTIONS SUCH CESSPITS OF WORKER EXPLOITATION? Photographer sues New York Times over age discrimination and ‘full-time freelancer’ status.

The New York Times and its photography director Michele McNally have been hit with a lawsuit by former Times’ photographer Robert Stolarik. The lawsuit claims that Stolarik, age 48, was discriminated against due to his age, and was also misclassified as a ‘full-time freelancer’ for nearly a decade.

According to the complaint—which was filed on July 6th in New York and covered at that time by Bloomberg BNA—Stolarik began working for the Times as a photographer in Colombia in 2000, followed by additional work in Venezuela until 2002. Stolarik then resumed working for the Times in 2004, the legal document explains, ultimately resulting in nearly a decade of full-time work.

However, despite working full-time, the lawsuit claims that Stolarik was paid under a 1099-MISC form as a freelancer—a classification that deprived Stolarik of the benefits that would have come with full-time employment, including health insurance.

I’m not actually shocked by this.