IBMer's Protest Age Discrimination
in Job Cuts

August 4, 2002

IBMer's will appear at IBM’s August 5 "good bye" event with poster showing age discrimination and handing out forms for filing EEOC complaints

Laid off employees should file complaints with Attorney General’s Civil Rights Unit

8:30 am, Monday August 5, outside the office of Drake, Beam & Morin, 354 Mountain View Dr. Colchester, Vermont–near I89 exit 16, near Cosco and behind Shaws.

While hundreds of laid off distraught IBM employees will all appear on August 5 for exit interviews and to sign releases and covenants not to sue in exchange for severance payments, some laid off and some currently employed IBMers will appear at the same place to urge older employees tofile complaints with the Vermont Attorney General’s Civil Rights Unit.

"IBM handed out 50 pages of data to each laid off employee. Buried inthat data is a clear pattern of age discrimination," said James MarcLeas, an IBM employee. "IBM hid the pattern in those 50 pages of numbers.

But one laid off employee used skills he learned at IBM to uncover the pattern of age discrimination: If you are over 45 you had a much higher probability of being laid off than younger employees. For some job categories, the age discrimination pattern begins for those over 40. And the probability of being laid off increases dramatically with age.

IBM laid off 988 Burlington employees. About 200 of those accepted offers to work as manufacturing operators at reduced pay. Most of the remainder will be appearing at the DBM office on Monday for exit interviews and to sign the release and covenant not to sue.

According to the chart prepared by a laid off IBMer, about 20% of
engineers and technicians who were 45 or younger in IBM’s world wide semiconductor manufacturing unit were laid off. The percent laid off rapidly increases with age for those who were above age 45. Percent laid off is 25%, 32%, 48%, and 67% for those 46-50, 51-55, 56-60, and 61-65.

In some areas the age discrimination is evident for employees in the 40-45 age category as well. 564 laid off employees are included in the chart in a total population of 2451 engineers and technicians in the world wide semiconductor manufacturing unit.

IBM’s handout to laid off employees says that they were either laid off because their job was eliminated or because of consideration of their level of skill and performance. Neither of these reasons would explain the huge disparity in chance of being laid off based on age.

In a July 3 letter to IBM location manager Hank Geipel, Leas asked that IBM notify the laid off employees of the age discrimination buried in IBM’s 50 page handout and hire back enough of the older workers to eliminate the discrimination. Through a spokesman, Geipel refused.

Fortunately, the Civil Rights Unit of the Attorney General’s office and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission can help remedy this problem if enough laid off employees file complaints. Remedies include reinstatement in their jobs, back pay, restoration of retirement benefits, and other awards. Those who accepted other jobs at lower pay within IBM can also file complaints.

A huge poster like the one attached will be on display at the DBM site where laid off employees must go on August 5 for exit interviews and to sign releases and covenants not to sue prepared by IBM in exchange for severance pay and other benefits.

However, there is one exception expressly mentioned in IBM’s release itself and available under law: laid off employees can still file complaints with the state attorney general’s office or the EEOC for age discrimination. And those agencies can get a court to tell IBM to reinstate laid off employees.

Laid off employees who will be filing complaints with the Vermont
Attorney General/EEOC will be available to speak to reporters. One such laid off employee is Dave Wartheim, who can be reached at 899-2307. The employees will be handing out simplifed complaint forms.