A former employee is suing IBM, alleging she was fired because of age discrimination only a month before becoming eligible for thousands of dollars in sales commission.
Terry Keebaugh, 57, lost her job as sales director in September 2016 as part of a “restructuring”, one month shy of receiving US$573,000 in commissions for deals that were due to close at year-end. Instead, she attested, she received just US$20,000 and was replaced by a younger employee who generated less revenue.
“IBM's age discrimination is longstanding and pervasive,” the complaint stated. “Since 2012, IBM has implemented age-based reorganizations twice a year, sending loyal IBMers over age 50 to the chopping block while sparing younger employees.”
In autumn 2015, Keebaugh was assigned to work on the IT giant’s Millennial Task Force scheme to recruit younger workers.
“The aim of this initiative is to, over a period of approximately four years, transform IBM's workforce to be at least 75% millennials, ie employees in their 20s and 30s,” the complaint said. “Naturally, as part of this initiative, IBM has, and will continue, to fire droves of older workers who exceed IBM's discriminatory age limit.”
An investigation by ProPublica found that between 2013 and 2018, IBM fired 20,000 US employees over the age of 40, a figure that amounted to 60% of its total US job cuts over that period.
Keebaugh claimed she noticed that IBM was firing older workers before they could train up younger employees to work with its mainframe computers, and even suggested a knowledge management exercise to ensure older employees put their best practice expertise into a database. This led to the vendor making a “cognitive solution” patent application and obtaining an achievement award.
But the very next day, on September 1, 2016, her boss sent her a letter telling her she was being fired as part of a “Skills Transformation Plan”. Keebaugh's lawsuit alleges that IBM is guilty of age discrimination under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, of age discrimination under state law and of wage reduction under labour law.
IBM responded to enquiries by the Daily Mail.com by issuing a statement that reads: “Changes in our workforce are about skills, not age. In fact, since 2010 there is no difference in the age of our US workforce, but the skills profile of our employees has changed dramatically. That is why we invest heavily in employee skills and retraining - to make all of us successful in this new era of technology.”
In this specific case, the statement added: “The EEOC [US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] has examined her case and declined to act on her claims”.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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A former employee is suing IBM, alleging she was fired because of age discrimination only a month before becoming eligible for thousands of dollars in sales commission.
Terry Keebaugh, 57, lost her job as sales director in September 2016 as part of a “restructuring”, one month shy of receiving US$573,000 in commissions for deals that were due to close at year-end. Instead, she attested, she received just US$20,000 and was replaced by a younger employee who generated less revenue.
“IBM's age discrimination is longstanding and pervasive,” the complaint stated. “Since 2012, IBM has implemented age-based reorganizations twice a year, sending loyal IBMers over age 50 to the chopping block while sparing younger employees.”
In autumn 2015, Keebaugh was assigned to work on the IT giant’s Millennial Task Force scheme to recruit younger workers.
“The aim of this initiative is to, over a period of approximately four years, transform IBM's workforce to be at least 75% millennials, ie employees in their 20s and 30s,” the complaint said. “Naturally, as part of this initiative, IBM has, and will continue, to fire droves of older workers who exceed IBM's discriminatory age limit.”
An investigation by ProPublica found that between 2013 and 2018, IBM fired 20,000 US employees over the age of 40, a figure that amounted to 60% of its total US job cuts over that period.
Keebaugh claimed she noticed that IBM was firing older workers before they could train up younger employees to work with its mainframe computers, and even suggested a knowledge management exercise to ensure older employees put their best practice expertise into a database. This led to the vendor making a “cognitive solution” patent application and obtaining an achievement award.
But the very next day, on September 1, 2016, her boss sent her a letter telling her she was being fired as part of a “Skills Transformation Plan”. Keebaugh's lawsuit alleges that IBM is guilty of age discrimination under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, of age discrimination under state law and of wage reduction under labour law.
IBM responded to enquiries by the Daily Mail.com by issuing a statement that reads: “Changes in our workforce are about skills, not age. In fact, since 2010 there is no difference in the age of our US workforce, but the skills profile of our employees has changed dramatically. That is why we invest heavily in employee skills and retraining - to make all of us successful in this new era of technology.”
In this specific case, the statement added: “The EEOC [US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] has examined her case and declined to act on her claims”.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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