5/22/2012
NEWS BRIEFS
Fastener Distributor Settles Age Discrimination Suit

A Texas-based master distributor of fasteners will pay $201,000 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced.

The suit charged that Advance Components’ general manager made “ageist” comments to national sales manager Dan Miller, 64, and fired him in 2009 because of his age.

Miller had been with Advance Components for 20 years and was replaced by a main in his 30s.

According to the EEOC, the general manager called Miller “old-fashioned” and expressed his preference to hire younger salesmen with his motto: “30-30-30. Hire a 30-year-old with an IQ of 30 and pay him $30,000.”  He allegedly commented that younger men were more driven for the outside sales role.

Discriminating against an employee because of his age violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC sought a pre-litigation settlement before filing a suit.

In the May 18 consent decree, Advance Components agreed to pay Miller $201,000. The distributor also will train management and supervisory personnel on equal employment opportunity and enforce a written policy against age discrimination.

“Older workers have the right to be evaluated based on their abilities and not based on their age,” said EEOC Senior Trial Attorney William Backhaus. “Every employer, large and small, needs to recognize the importance of avoiding stereotypes, including those about age and older workers.”

“Advance Components wrongly assumed that Mr. Miller’s age, 64, interfered with his ability to connect with customers,” Backhaus stated. “It didn’t — we learned that he was their top producer and that customers loved him.”

Miller’s attorney Rogge Dunn advised employers that replacing senior employees with younger ones catches the attention of the EEOC.  

Robert Canino, an EEOC regional attorney, said sales success “is not something we would expect to be adversely affected by a greater degree of experience. Broad-brush assumptions that a 30-something is going to be more effective with marketing skills than a 60-something are arbitrary and misplaced suppositions that can lead to a violation of the law. If this ’30-30-30′ theory was at play in the decision to discharge Mr. Miller, we hope the message here is that a rule of  thumb like that just doesn’t add up to a good business practice.”

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Web: eeoc.gov.

Advance Components is located at 2920 Commodore Dr. #100, Carrollton, TX 75007. Tel: 972 446-5500 or 800 275-7772 E-mail: sales@advancecomponents.com Web: advancecomponents.com ©2012 GlobalFastenerNews.com