Judge Dismisses Pulitzer Winner’s Lawsuit Against Los Angeles Times

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A judge Wednesday dismissed Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jeff Gottlieb’s employment discrimination lawsuit against the Los Angeles Times, according to the newspaper’s attorney.

Linda Miller Savitt said that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rita Miller notified the Times by mail Wednesday that she had granted the paper’s motion for summary judgement following a Monday hearing. The parties were still waiting for Miller’s full written opinion, Savitt said.

The attorney said there was no basis for Gottlieb’s discrimination claims and that Miller appeared to side with the Times at the hearing.

“During oral arguments the judge expressed skepticism that the Times engaged in any sort of age discrimination against Jeff Gottlieb,” Savitt said.

Gottlieb filed the suit in August more than a year after he resigned from the paper. He claimed in the lawsuit that management at the Times – including now Publisher and Editor in Chief Davan Maharaj – pushed him out after he and fellow Times staffer Ruben Vives won a Pulitzer in 2011 for their coverage of the Bell corruption scandal.

Gottlieb said in an email that he was disappointed by the ruling, but that the court battle revealed the dysfunction at the newspaper.

“I haven’t read the ruling, but I’m obviously disappointed,” Gottlieb wrote. “What has been revealed by the lawsuit, however, are the lies and backstabbing by editors.”

A spokeswoman for the Times declined to comment on the dismissal.

Deals & Dealmakers reporter Henry Meier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @henry_meier.