Total Articles: 5
Eleventh Circuit Clarifi es Information Required in Release of Age Discrimination Claims (pdf).
The Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has clarifi ed
the scope of information employers must provide to employees
who are terminated as part of a reduction in force,
if the employer seeks a release of Age Discrimination in
Employment Act (ADEA) claims from the discharged employees.
See Burlison v. McDonald’s Corp. The Older Workers
Benefi ts Protection Act (OWBPA) requires employers to
provide certain information to employees who are asked
to waive potential ADEA claims. Essentially, these employees
must be provided with the ages and job titles of
employees selected for discharge and those not selected.
Congress established this provision to enable employees
who are asked to release ADEA claims to compare the
ages of employees who were discharged with those who
were not.
Employee waived age bias claim (pdf).
Court finds severance agreement valid under federal law.
Defective Release Enables Terminated Workers To Pursue Age Claims (pdf).
Two federal appellate courts have now held that releases signed by IBM employees who were terminated (and
received severance benefi ts) during a workforce reduction were not effective to release the company from liability
for age discrimination claims subsequently brought by those employees. In Syverson v. International Bus. Mach.,
No. 04-16449 (August 31, 2006), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that IBM’s release agreement was
invalid. This decision follows a similar ruling from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2005 construing the
same release.
Release Of Claims Held Invalid By Court (pdf).
A federal appellate court recently
reinstated a lawsuit brought by a group
of workers who sued their former employer
under the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act (ADEA). The court held
that releases signed by the laid off workers
were unenforceable because they
failed to conform to the statute’s specific
requirements.
Class Action Update -- Age Discrimination in Employment Act Waivers (pdf).
In its 2000 decision in Adams v. Ameritech Services, Inc., 231 F.3d 414, 431 (2000), the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit noted that "[t]hroughout the decade of the 1990’s, corporate downsizing was a popular strategy for companies that believed they had become indolent, complacent, inefficient, or otherwise unsuited to the ever-increasing pace of competition in their markets."
