PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA — A Pennsylvania truck driver who spent more than a decade fighting what he says was systematic age discrimination in Hollywood production hiring has lost his appeal, with the Third Circuit Court upholding lower court rulings that found he could not sufficiently prove his claims.
Timothy McLaughlin, born in 1952, worked as a movie and television production truck driver from 2001 to 2011 under a Teamsters Local 249 arrangement with CBS Studios Inc. and TriStar Pictures Inc. Under that arrangement, the union sent producers the resumes of all interested drivers and producers chose who to hire — a system McLaughlin began criticizing in 2010 as one that insulated nepotism and favoritism since producers had no objective basis for their selections.
In 2011, McLaughlin says the production companies stopped hiring him and began selecting significantly younger and less experienced drivers who often had personal ties to producers or union leadership. Over the next decade he wrote letters to union officials and the National Labor Relations Board, filed complaints with the EEOC and Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, and claimed he was passed over for more than 50 productions due to discrimination and retaliation. He filed suit in Western Pennsylvania court in 2021 naming CBS Studios, TriStar Pictures, and Teamsters Local 249.
A court ruled in 2022 that McLaughlin had not provided sufficient evidence of age discrimination, and in 2024 ruled similarly on his blacklisting claim. In both cases the court did not find his claims baseless — only unproven. McLaughlin appealed in May 2026. On August 10, Judge Theodore McKee of the Third Circuit Court denied the appeal and upheld both prior decisions.
All defendants are presumed innocent of any wrongdoing. Court decisions reflect evidentiary standards and do not constitute findings of innocence or guilt on the underlying allegations.
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