Question: Title VII Age Discrimination Violation Analysis in the Case of ABC Company

As an employee at a West Coast Division of ABC company for over 40 years, your only job since you graduated college, at age 22, and now a manager of 30 operations folks, you have been asked to come to a senior leadership meeting. You have not been to senior leadership meetings before, only know of their names, but now you are invited to one of their meetings and you are excited. As you prepare for the meeting, showing all your team’s accomplishments, their career paths, your team’s retention rates, and other positive data, you also know that the Company is converting XXSoft Groups, a software program that promotes lots of group interaction, automatic saves on documents, multiple edits without checking out the document, automatic meeting recordings, and great group working chats, document reviews, and even phone calls. The software should replace emails, meeting invites, which will save lots of time. You admit you are struggling to adjust to the new soft program, but you will get it soon. Your other colleagues, also managers of teams, are well younger than you, and during managerial meetings, you learn that you are the only one that still has an early iPhone 5 version, do not have a Facebook or Instagram account, nor do you know “what is a Tik Tok,” you have no Netflix, or other streaming accounts, you do not have TV, but enjoy public radio, such as NPR. Moreover, you notice you are the only manger with gray/white hair and still drive and early 2000s automobile and do not plan to convert to electric vehicles, until charging stations are just as available as gas stations. At the senior leaders meeting, you see for the first time that they are also much younger than you. They ask you sit down across the “C Suite” team – executive, operations, finance, information, security, and human relations [CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, CSO, and HR VP] and you comply. After pleasantries, the CEO turns to you to notify you that you will be given a generous severance package, but that your time with ABC Company is over, as the “Company’s face is to match today’s technology, new, effective, cutting edge and agile, and that you do not match the Company’s image, but only that of an “old dinosaur, using early 2000’s technology, and not capable of, or refusing to adjust to today’s technology, lifestyle and social expectations.” Moreover, the HR VP says that complaints have made against you, as a non-team player, as you usually do not join your colleagues for Friday Happy Hour and often when asked what you did this past weekend, you say, “went to church and my wife and I visited our grandkids.” in an apparent slight to those who are not religious, married, or have children, much less grandchildren.” You attempt to refute their claims but are not allowed to speak. The Chief Security Officer (CSO) says your building pass is about to be “deactivated,” so it is best to leave quietly. You comply and soon, with your “infamous” box of personal items, you walk out of the building. A day later, you contact an attorney, whose specializes in Age and Religious Discrimination cases. You present the facts of the previous day and hope it is enough for the attorney to state, “You have a possible case of Title VII Age Discrimination violation, and I can represent you.”

Looking from the Attorney’s perspective, and their legal training, it turns out that above facts should fall into a possible Title VII Age Discrimination Violation.

Are there enough facts to file an Age Discrimination Complaint against ABC Company and its Officers, why or why not?
What are the provisions the attorney must prove? Please discuss the strengths/weaknesses of the above facts as they relate to the Violation requirements?
If successful, what would you, as the former employee, want as compensation for this ordeal, especially for the humiliation of everyone seeing you walk out the building, with your “personal box,” and other compensation, such as loss of future wages, bonuses, etc.?
The ABC Company will argue that it gave you a generous severance package, do they have an argument that they have not violated your Title VII rights? Why or why not?

STUDY TIPS / DRAFT:

Introduction: In the presented scenario, a long-term employee of ABC Company was terminated during a senior leadership meeting due to perceived technological and cultural disparities. The terminated employee seeks legal counsel to determine if there are grounds for filing an Age Discrimination Complaint against ABC Company and its officers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This analysis will assess whether the facts align with the legal provisions required for an Age Discrimination claim, the strengths and weaknesses of these facts, potential compensation, and ABC Company's potential defense.

1. Grounds for Filing an Age Discrimination Complaint: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment based on various protected characteristics, including age. To establish a prima facie case of age discrimination under Title VII, the attorney must prove the following elements:

a. Protected Age Group: The employee must belong to a protected age group, typically those who are 40 years old or older. In this scenario, the employee's age is over 40, meeting this requirement.

b. Adverse Employment Action: The employee must demonstrate that an adverse employment action occurred. Termination is clearly an adverse employment action.

c. Causation: There must be evidence suggesting that age was a motivating factor in the adverse employment action.

2. Strengths/Weaknesses of the Presented Facts:

Strengths:

• The employee's age (over 40) aligns with the protected group.
• The termination can be considered an adverse employment action.

Weaknesses:

• While there is evidence of the employee's age, the connection between age and the termination may be indirect.
• The company's primary reasons for termination were related to the employee's technological and social differences rather than explicitly age.

3. Potential Compensation: If the employee were to succeed in an age discrimination claim, potential compensation may include:

• Back pay: Lost wages and benefits from the date of termination until a resolution.
• Front pay: Compensation for future lost wages and benefits.
• Emotional distress damages: Compensation for the humiliation and emotional distress caused by the termination.
• Attorney's fees and court costs.
• Reinstatement or front-loaded severance packages.

4. ABC Company's Potential Defense: ABC Company may argue that they offered a generous severance package as a form of mitigation, asserting that they did not violate the employee's Title VII rights. However, the viability of this defense depends on the strength of their case. ABC Company may contend that the employee's inability to adapt to new technology and social norms rendered them ineffective in their managerial role, which justifies termination. However, if age was a substantial factor in their decision-making process, it could still constitute age discrimination.

Conclusion: While the presented facts suggest potential age discrimination, the case's strength depends on whether the attorney can establish that age was a motivating factor in the termination. The presence of technological and social differences as the primary reasons for termination complicates the matter. Compensation, if awarded, would be based on various factors, including lost wages and emotional distress. ABC Company's defense would rely on justifying the termination based on performance rather than age. Further investigation and legal analysis are necessary to determine the viability of pursuing an Age Discrimination Complaint under Title VII.