‘Get that fucking fat old c… off Nine’

In what is shaping up as a very nasty court case, the Australian Traffic Network has been accused of ageism in a statement of claim lodged in the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal.

Crikey have broken the story, and you can read their complete and comprehensive report here.

Jason Bouman is a former announcer on Mix 106.5, and was a traffic reporter with ATN until he resigned last year.

Bouman alleges he was removed from the Channel 9 traffic reporting role and transferred to radio reports, because his boss Bill Pezzimenti (pictured) wanted “a good looking young blonde” in front of the camera.

The statement of claim from Bouman goes on to claim that a text message was sent from Pezzimenti to Operations Manager Steve Woods saying;

"Tell me what are you doing about getting that fucking fat old c… off Channel 9" 

After a meeting when Bouman was told about the removal from Channel 9 he said “I’m gone in six weeks. They’re putting some young girl from Brisbane on. What, have I got a head like a dropped fucking pie?”

Bouman says he “suffered intense emotional pain, hurt and trauma from the discriminatory behaviour of the Australian Traffic Network and its management team”.

You can read the full report at Crikey here, and you can read Jason Bouman's statement of claim at Crikey here.