Archive
By Staff Report
Apr. 5, 1999
Do you consider the potential for age discrimination when downsizing? The concern is becoming more and more of a problem, especially at high-tech companies.
High-tech companies concerned over whether their policies and procedures treat older employees fairly should note the terms a Massachusetts computer firm recently negotiated with an anti-discrimination agency.
The January 14, 1999 agreement reached between Bull NH Information Systems Inc. and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) settles charges that the company discriminated against older workers during layoffs of 2,000 employees in the early 1990s.
The MCAD ruled against the company in 1996. Both the state and the EEOC continue to press a separate case in federal court, alleging that the company illegally forced older workers to waive their rights to file discrimination claims as a condition of receiving severance pay.
The settlement includes no monetary payments or admissions of wrongdoing. Its importance for employers is in the new policies and procedures it establishes for avoiding age discrimination in the future. The ranks of older workers employed by high-tech companies likely will expand as companies learn to value their expertise and experience. At Bull NH, for example, the average age of the workforce is nearly 50, above that of most other high-tech firms.
Under the settlement, the company agreed to the following six items. These six points are good ones to consider for your organization.
Source: AlignMark, January 1999. 258 Southhall Lane, Suite 400, Maitland, FL, 32751. 800/652-4587.
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