Car-Rental Firms Avoid Fines in Age-Bias Suit

Hertz Corp., Avis Rent A Car Inc. and six other car-rental companies won’t have to pay fines for age discrimination as part of a suit filed by New York Atty. Gen. Dennis Vacco, because they didn’t think their policy was illegal, a state judge ruled. Vacco sued Hertz, Avis, Alamo Rent A Car Inc., Budget Rent A Car Corp., National Car Rental Systems, Enterprise Rent A Car, Dollar Systems Inc. and Thrifty Rent-A-Car System Inc. in 1994, claiming that they wouldn’t rent cars to people under 25. The New York State Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year that the car-rental companies had violated the law and prohibited the firms from continuing the discriminatory practices. Vacco then asked the state court in Manhattan to force the car-rental companies to pay the state’s legal costs and to order fines for each age-discrimination incident. Vacco was seeking $500 for each time the companies had knowingly violated the law. New York State Supreme Court Judge Stephen Crane, while ordering the companies to pay $2,000 each to cover the state’s legal costs, rejected Vacco’s request. A spokesman at the attorney general’s office declined to comment.