IBM Made Top-down Efforts To Fire Older Workers, Says US Employment Discrimination Watchdog

IBM systematically sought to sack older workers, according to the United States' Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

That opinion was expressed in an EEOC determination regarding claims lodged by more than 60 people against the tech goliath, all alleging “they and a class of similarly situated individuals were discharged based on their age.”

The letter, obtained by ProPublica, stated IBM denied the allegations of discrimination, and said it gave no anti-age directives to its managers. Big Blue reckoned the people complaining to the commission they were fired for being too old "were discharged as part of a series of Resource Actions designed to reduce headcounts and decrease costs,” the memo stated.

The EEOC dismissed the IT giant's arguments, and said its investigation found “top-down messaging from [IBM's] highest ranks directing managers to engage in an aggressive approach to significantly reduce the headcount of older workers to make room for early professional hires.” Early professional hires is IBM speak for college graduates typically in their 20s.

The letter stated many older workers were told their skills were out-of-date yet they were later re-hired as contractors “at a lower rate of pay with fewer benefits.”

An aggressive approach to significantly reduce the headcount of older workers to make room for early professional hires

“EEOC received corroborating testimony from dozens of witnesses nationwide supporting a discriminatory animus based on age,” the letter stated. “Based on the above, [IBM's] asserted defence does not withstand scrutiny”.

The watchdog was unable to find enough evidence of illegal activity by Big Blue, though, and instead will try to persuade the US corp to play nice in future through a series of meetings.

"If the commission determines that there is reasonable cause to believe that violations have occurred, it shall endeavor to eliminate the alleged unlawful employment practices by informal methods of conference, conciliation, and persuasion," it noted in its letter.

"Having determined that there is reason to believe that violations have occurred, the commission now invites [IBM] to join with it in an effort toward a just resolution of this matter."

In a previous and similar case, IBM settled with former cloud sales star Jonathan Langley who alleged age discrimination. His legal team had won the right to see emails and other internal messages going all the way up to the CEO regarding the corporation's drive to rebalance the "seniority mix" of its workforce. ®