U.S. Files Age Bias Suit Against AT&T

U.S. Files Age Bias Suit Against AT&T
Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 20, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/technology/companies/21phone.html?th&emc=th


NEW YORK (AP) — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Thursday that it had filed an age discrimination lawsuit against AT&T, the country’s largest telecommunications provider.

The commission said AT&T had discriminated against older employees by denying them the chance to be rehired solely because they left under early retirement plans.

That led to a disproportionate number of older workers not having the same opportunity to apply for re-employment with the company as younger workers, which amounts to age discrimination, the agency said.

The lawsuit, filed in United States District Court in Manhattan, claims that AT&T’s policy excluded a class of workers from being re-employed because of their age, regardless of their qualifications.

An AT&T spokesman, Michael Coe, declined to comment specifically on the lawsuit.

“But I can tell you AT&T makes diversity and inclusion a top priority, and has received national recognition for its programs and performance,” Mr. Coe said.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the policy had been in effect at AT&T since at least 2006. Louis Graziano, a commission spokesman, said the early retirement programs affected more than 50,000 people. He said it was not known how many of them had been discriminated against, though it would be only those who had sought to be rehired by AT&T.