Should the EEOC prevail in its lawsuit, one has to wonder what the value of severage and retirement agreements as well as packages exchanged for signing them would be to a company since they offer no guarantee that they will prevent lawsuits. Therefore, the outcome of this lawsuit could have broad implications for company layoff and retirement policies.
Further, companies should expect more age discrimination lawsuits even if they believe they have followed the law. This is inevitable given the increasing need for layoffs caused by the recession along with an aging workforce, many of whom want to stay employed past the traditional retirement age. The number of older workers wanting and needing to work full or part time is likely to grow in the face of longer life expectancy,...
Plus, there'a huge pool of retired employees who currently wish to return to work because the huge economic downturn has unexpectedly wiped out all of their retirement savings.
Relevance to course material, other observations and comments: Course material has clearly explained ADEA and the consequences and costs of not following discrimination laws. However, given the aging workforce, more investigation of unique real-world challenges it presents and the appropriate policies to react to those challenges would be extremely useful. For example, this article about the lawsuit against at&T highlights if a company should even encourage early retirement in today's environment where age discrimination lawsuits are surging.
