Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly recently agreed to settle two age discrimination lawsuits, one for $2.4M in a suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), and a second for an undisclosed amount in a suit brought by an employee.
In the first lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that Eli Lilly created an “Early Career” hiring initiative in which it intentionally did not hire older workers for certain sales representative positions, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The EEOC further alleged that in a Leadership Town Hall in 2017, the Company’s Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Diversity pointed out that the workforce was comprised of older workers and announced goals to hire more younger workers under its “Early Career” hiring initiative. The settlement will compensate candidates aged 40 or older who were denied primary care sales representative positions in the Lilly Diabetes Business Unit from 2017 through June 30, 2020.
In the second lawsuit, a senior sales representative alleged that Eli Lilly promoted younger workers over older ones.
In addition to paying the settlement amounts, Eli Lilly also must provide annual equal employment opportunity training to all hiring managers and Human Resources staffers, survey job applicants on whether they experienced discrimination, and specifically state in contracts with third-party recruiters that it does not discriminate against candidates based on age.
What this means to you:
Age cannot be a consideration when making employment decisions. You’re looking for “fresh” ideas that are “outside the box”? Those don’t just come from a younger workforce. You also need to think “outside the box.”
Whether it’s with hiring, compensation, job assignments, promotions, termination, or any other term or condition of employment, age cannot be a reason for your decisions.
And it doesn’t matter whether your actions are intentional or unintentional. Seemingly innocuous things like job postings advertising for “recent graduates” or “young” or “energetic” candidates could put your company at risk for an age discrimination claim.
Make sure your workplace isn’t at risk for discrimination claims. To learn about our Respectful Workplace, Managing Within the Law, our other programs, or to book a workshop, please call 800-458-2778 or email us.
Updated 12-11-2023
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.
