The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (covering Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee) recently ruled that an older worker, discharged in a reduction in force (“RIF”), must clear an additional hurdle to bring a claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”).
Generally, to establish an ADEA claim (which protects workers age [...]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has recently published proposed regulations explaining the “reasonable factors other than age” defense available to employers charged with disparate impact age discrimination claims. If the proposed rule becomes final, it will greatly impact the development of workplace policies and workforce reductions. If workplace reductions are in your future, you need [...]
When a company reduces its workforce, it is typically to reduce costs after a decline in business. It is therefore ironic when such expected cost-saving measures cost millions of dollars in damages and legal fees. That is exactly what happened in the Pennsylvania case of Marcus v. PQ Corp., where the jury awarded two laid off [...]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently overturned an earlier summary judgment, finding a 64-year-old employee established enough inconsistencies in his employers’ reasons for firing him to establish that those reasons were merely pretext for age discrimination. (See Hare v. Denver Merch. Mart Inc., 10th Cir., No. 06-1270, unpublished opinion, 11/2/07).
After 30 [...]
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. recently abandoned its employee performance rating system, just as a class-action age discrimination lawsuit regarding the system was filed. The so-called “ABC” evaluation system rates the performance of employees on a curve, grading the top 10% with an “A,” the middle 80% with a “B,” and the bottom 10% with [...]