Until eight months ago, he served as the Chief Engineer for an FM radio station that today is the top-billing broadcast asset for publicly traded Townsquare Media. Now, he’s fighting back with an age discrimination lawsuit being considered by a Mercer County, N.J. superior court.
Frank Certo, who since 2000 has also served as a contract engineer for Frankensound Corp. in North Brunswick, N.J., had been associated with WKXW-FM “New Jersey 101.5” in Trenton since April 1996.
On September 10, six months after exiting the station, attorneys at Ryan, Brown, Berger & Gibbons P.C. filed a civil action complaint and jury demand in the state-level court, citing violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and two New Jersey statutes. Certo also claims unlawful retaliation and tortious interference with contracts and business prospects, portraying Certo in “a false light.”
Pointed to in the lawsuit is Townsquare Media Regional VP Brian Lang.
As stated in the lawsuit, Certo’s longtime employment at WKXW came to an end on March 24, at which time he was handed an eight-page exit agreement that Certo’s legal counsel claims is “unreasonable, unduly burdensome, restrictive as to Plaintiff’s future prospects of pursuing a livelihood in his industry, contained unlawful Non-Compete conditions, negatively impacted older workers, and required Plaintiff to forever waive certain of his Constitutional Rights (including his fundamental First Amendment Rights to Speech and Assembly).”
There’s more: Certo discovered that Townsquare Media “unlawfully misclassified” him as
an “exempt” employee and was failed to receive overtime compensation for work performed in excess of 40 hours during a work week.
Certo is 57 years of age and graduated high school in 1986, and he has selected Cynthia Certo as his trial counsel.
Thus far, Judge Jodi Bouer has not questioned the relationship between the Certos as a conflict of interest, allowing the case to proceed.
Townsquare Media is represented by Biancamano & DiStefano’s George Karaousatos. In an October 22 answer to the complaint, denial of every allegation is stated.
