Posted on 01/22/2022 3:48:53 PM PST by libh8er
They were a youthful brigade at Lotus Software in the 1990s, when the Cambridge firm was revolutionizing office work with its cutting-edge e-mail platform. When their company was swallowed by IBM, they helped the high-tech giant push into big data and digital health.
More recently, when they’d moved into their peak earnings-and-savings years — just as IBM was scrambling to remake itself for what it called “a new era of technology” — they were summarily fired.
“They basically throw you away after a long career,” said Kathleen Stuart of Milton, who worked for Lotus and IBM for 25 years. She was let go in 2019, when she was 61, and said she’d just received an excellent review for her work as a compliance manager. “I did so much at IBM. I went above and beyond. And the way it ended was so wrong.”
Dozens of former Massachusetts employees, many of them Lotus veterans, are among more than 1,000 laid-off workers nationally who have charged IBM with forcing out older staffers over the past decade as part of a strategy to build a younger workforce. All of the employees were in their 40s, 50s, and 60s when they lost their jobs. IBM has been fighting the charges for over two years, saying they have no merit.
Taken together, the allegations — filed both in federal court and with hundreds of private arbitrators — amount to one of the largest age discrimination cases in US history. At a time of heightened attention to racial and gender issues, the ex-IBMers are spotlighting what they say is another pervasive, though often hidden, bias in corporate America.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...
Age discrimination is rampant in silicon valley and rarely pursued by EEOC. Unlike race cases it is very difficult to prove as you never have somebody making agist comments. They just do a “restructuring” and always eliminate the jobs of the oldest workers as they are typically the highest paid.
IBM is just following the same playbook, but maybe they forgot to hire BCG or another consulting firm to justify the restructuring.
Some of us have been on the receiving end of similar
If migrant and islam can be a races so can middle age.
Been there and someone filed Ave discrimination lawsuit with EOC and I was notified as a witness. 6 years later while still waiting for action - the company sold out.
EEOC
In my personal experience in IT hiring I’ve seen the opposite if anything — that finding older programmers with a good track record and a dedicated work ethic are like finding gold compared to the grads coming out of college these days.
Age discrimination is the rule in Hollywood. And not just in front of the camera.
Less about age than wage, I suspect.
And bennies.
Youngsters are a lot cheaper.
The usual thing to do is give a year’s pay as severance, provided you agree not to sue. A fellow I knew went to a lawyer and asked if he should sign - the lawyer told him that you’d only get a year’s salary if you won your lawsuit, so you might as well just take the money.
@ mewzilla
Salary is an issue and also they can work a younger person harder.
That’s the cruelty of corporate America.
Nothing has changed since I got outsourced in 2001 and 2003. If you are 50 or older in this country, better have a backup plan.
Hubby was let go from his sales job at Insight 2 months before he turned 60. He had 18 outstanding quarters and then 2 bad ones after they gave his West Coast territory to a 25 yo old newbie. They only want young ppl there...and Mormons.
I used to work for British Petroleum in Alaska. Their pension benefits were structured in such a way that once you hit 50 the pension accrual accelerated. So, just before you hit 50 they’d find a way to get rid of you.
“ Salary is an issue and also they can work a younger person harder.”
Can’t work the youngsters harder anymore. They are way too delicate for that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.