The Round Rock, Texas computer giant, Dell, has been ordered by a court of appeals to pay a terminated employee $668,000 plus $221,000 in attorney’s fees. The case represents one of several discrimination suits that have been brought against the well-known computer company in recent years. The terminated employee in this case was fired in 2008, the cause of which was alleged by the suit to be discriminatory and based on age.
The employee was 61 years old at the time he was fired after working at Dell for 11 years. According to the original filing in a county district court, his replacement was a much younger man in his 20s. The district court ruled in the plaintiff’s favor and Dell appealed.
One of the jury members in the 2010 district court trial noted that Dell executives appeared to be evasive during questioning. The jury member went on to say that the company’s witnesses were not capable of supporting Dell’s claim that the employee was terminated for poor performance. After the appeals court upheld the lower court’s decision, a Dell spokesman said the company respectfully disagreed with the ruling.
It may be discovered that age discrimination within some companies is somewhat of an institutionalized process. Firing older and higher-paid workers — even without evidence of poor performance — and then replacing them with younger employees who are willing to work for much less can serve to lower a company’s labor costs. Texas residents who believe that they have been the victim of such discriminatory practices will do well to seek the assistance of those who are skilled and experienced in the ways and means of investigating and conducting a successful age bias claim.
Source: bizjournals.com, Ex Dell worker awarded $668K in age discrimination case, Christopher Calnan, Aug. 23, 2013
