Hallmark Media executive vice president of programming Lisa Hamilton Daly instructed a former employee not to cast “old people” for Hallmark roles, saying that “our leading ladies are aging out,” according to a lawsuit filed against the network this month and obtained by The Associated Press.

Penny Perry, a 79-year-old casting director who filed the lawsuit Oct. 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that she was wrongfully fired from the network known for its feel-good movies because of her age, and despite stellar performance reviews. “Hallmark’s happy endings are stories made for TV only,” the complaint says. “In Ms. Perry’s case, there was no happy ending, and no feel-good episode to wrap up her career with Hallmark. Instead, her finale episode was marred by ageist and ableist harassment, and a callous termination which robbed her of her illustrious career, her pride, and her well-being.”

In a statement, Hallmark denied the allegations, adding: “Hallmark continues to consistently cast and maintain positive, productive relationships with talented actors representing a broad spectrum of diversity, including actors who span many age groups and cross generations.”

According to the lawsuit, Hamilton Daly told Perry that they needed to “replace” the “old talent” including 42-year-old actress Lacey Chabert, who has starred in dozens of Hallmark movies, many of them Christmas-themed, and portrayed Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls (2004), saying Chabert is “getting older and we have to find someone like her to replace her as she gets older.”