Repeated Questions about Retirement Are Evidence of Age Discrimination

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently settled a lawsuit against a manufacturing and distribution company, J&M Industries, in which the EEOC had alleged that J&M discriminated against one of its employees due to their age.  The EEOC's lawsuit claimed that J&M terminated the employee because she refused to retire after she turned 65 years old.  As her 65th birthday neared, a manager repeatedly asked her about retirement.  In response, the employee told the manager that she had no plans to retire.  After learning this, the company terminated her employment under the pretense that her position was being eliminated for economic reasons.  Less than a month later, however, J&M hired an employee in his thirties for the very same position it had claimed to eliminate.  This alleged conduct is a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which prohibits discrimination against employees over the age of 40 due to their age.  See EEOC v. J&M Industries, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:23-cv-01100 (E.D. La.).