Marlene Louise Johnson, Former AP Reporter Who Sued for Discrimination, Dies at 89
Marlene Louise Johnson, a former Associated Press reporter who filed a race and gender discrimination lawsuit against the wire service in 1973, has died at age 89 on May 9 in a Los Angeles-area care facility. Johnson was hired as part of a minority hiring program but claimed she received no training and was held to different performance standards than white male colleagues. Her lawsuit, which became a class-action claim, resulted in a 1983 settlement of over $1 million that required the AP to establish affirmative action plans for hiring female, Black, and Hispanic journalists.
Marlene Louise Johnson, a pioneering Black journalist, died May 9 at age 89 after suffering from dementia. Hired by the Associated Press in 1972 as a general assignment reporter in Detroit, Johnson sued the organization for race and gender discrimination just a year after joining, claiming she received inadequate training and faced different performance standards than her white male counterparts. Her individual lawsuit evolved into a class-action claim involving other female minority journalists. The Newspaper Guild's settlement with the AP in 1983 exceeded $1 million and mandated affirmative action plans for hiring female, Black, and Hispanic journalists, though Johnson herself was not listed among the seven named plaintiffs and received approximately $700. Johnson had an accomplished career beyond the AP, earning degrees from the University of Buffalo, Wayne State University, and Howard University's School of Divinity, and she befriended civil rights icon Rosa Parks while working in Congressman John Conyers' Detroit office.
What different sources said
- Washington TimesRight
Marlene Louise Johnson, 89, former TWT editor and AP reporter who sued wire for discrimination, dies
- The IndependentLeft
Former AP reporter Marlene Louise Johnson, who sued wire for discrimination, dies at age 89
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