A former IBM employee has filed a lawsuit accusing the company of age discrimination following the elimination of her position when she was 63 years old.
In a complaint filed on Sept. 1 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, Brenda VanDeWeghe stated she began working for IBM”™s Global Business Services unit as a recruiter in February 2010 in the capacity of an independent contractor, joining the Armonk-based company as a “long-term supplemental employee” in March 2011 and a full-time employee in May 2014. In June 2015, she was promoted to North American Executive Referral Program Manager.
VanDeWeghe”™s lawsuit noted that IBM began making a companywide emphasis on the value of workforce millennials in a 2014 conference titled “Reinvention in the Age of the Millennial,” which resulted in an “early professional” hiring program targeted solely at young professionals.
The lawsuit also pointed out comments made in August 2016 by IBM Marketing Manager Erika Riehle on how employees in the baby boomer demographic were contributing to workplace “dysfunctions.”
VanDeWeghe”™s position came to an end in March 2018 as part of a “resource action” ”“ a company euphemism for workforce reduction ”“ and she said she was not offered any other positions within the company. The company also recorded the end of her employment as a voluntary retirement rather than an involuntarily terminated, the lawsuit added.
At the same time, VanDeWeghe stated she became aware of an investigation by ProPublica of alleged age discrimination practices within IBM. The ProPublica report estimated that “IBM has eliminated more than 20,000 American employees ages 40 and over, about 60 percent of its estimated total U.S. job cuts” between 2013 and 2018.
VanDeWeghe”™s lawsuit accused the company of violating the U.S. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act. In her lawsuit, VanDeWeghe requested compensatory damages including “loss of enjoyment of life, emotional pain and suffering, back pay, bonuses, and the value of all other employment benefits,” along with ADEA liquidated damages, punitive damages and attorneys”™ fees and costs.
IBM did not issue a public comment on the lawsuit and did not respond to requests for comment.
