MANHATTAN - Michael Caruso has sued Wenner Media for $5 million in New York County Court, claiming he was wrongfully fired from $400,000 job (base salary) as editor of "Men's Journal" magazine because of age discrimination. Caruso, 44, claims he was fired in October 2005, two months before his two-year contract expired. He claims he made Men's Journal a successful magazine despite repeated interference and micromanagement from his boss, Jann Wenner, [pictured] including "strange and often contradictory directives" and crucial management moves made behind his back, such as Wenner's cutting newsstand circulation by 50,000 without telling him. Wenner, best known for founding "Rolling Stone" magazine, runs an "extremely volatile workplace," Caruso says, pointing to Men's Journal's six editors in six years, many or all of them fired before expiration of their multi-year contract, and five publishers in that time. Caruso says Wenner has witthheld bonuses from him - he earned $72,000 in bonuses in 2004 and was paid only $34,606 in bonuses upon being fired. Caruso claims he was "functionally replaced" by a man in his early thirties, "who has specifically stated that Wenner was looking to hire younger employees." Caruso demands another year of his base salary, his bonuses, and punitive damages for age discrimination. He is represented by Wechsler & Cohen.