ROME — A group of former consultants who worked for many years regularly with the FAO plan to sue the UN agency with a class action at the European Court of Human Rights for ageism by banning people over 70 from working there, a founder member said Monday.  SUpport for the FAO Human RIghts Group is snowballing with other supporters considering a separate lawsuit at the ECHR for discimination against particular nationalities following a recent draconian decision to cancel all the contracts of all Italian consultants, organisers added.

 Dozens of consultanti including editors, translators and lawyers have lost their livelihoods due to application of the regulation which they complain is applied unevenly since FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva is about to begin his 70th year while many of his cronies continue to work beyond age 70.

 “You wouldn’t ask a plumber or an electrician for their birth certificate but you might not want a very young surgeon to operate on you,” one member of the group told the Insider. “This is blatantly harsh treatment of people whose experience makes them very useful to FAO.”

 The group has appealed for consultants and collaborators who would like to know more about joining the class action to contact them at email:

 faohuman.rights@yahoo.com

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