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Federal
Judge Rules Supervalu Age-Discrimination Case to Go to Trial
Gray Plant Mooty March
17, 2003
"Eliminate the old people," reads Supervalu meeting notes quoted in decision. U.S. District
Judge Ann D. Montgomery ruled that the Supervalu age-discrimination case
will go to trial, denying Supervalu's motion for a summary dismissal of
the case. "Plaintiffs have demonstrated sufficient evidence,"
she wrote in her 31-page opinion, "supported by the record,
suggesting a pattern or practice of discriminatory conduct by
Supervalu." The
evidence discussed in the opinion includes notes from a meeting of company
executives on January 29, 1998 in which Leland Dake, a Supervalu vice
president, is quoted as saying, "This is how we stay legal, to
eliminate the old people from the system." In the months that
followed, the plaintiffs jobs were eliminated by Supervalu. A
company memo, described in the ruling, discusses targeting older workers,
but notes that a possible "con" is that this was "almost
sure to provoke (an) age discrimination suit," and would cause
"damage to company image." The court's ruling quoted deposition
testimony from a former vice president who was fired shortly after he had
told Jeffrey Noddle that employees "were being systematically
eliminated because of their ages." Mr. Noddle is now the chairman and
CEO of Supervalu. Stephen
Snyder, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs and a principal at the
Minneapolis law firm of Gray Plant Mooty, said, "The plaintiffs are
hard-working individuals who performed well for Supervalu and did not
deserve to be fired because of their age. Federal and state laws prohibit
this type of discrimination." The
case was originally filed on June 16, 2000 by former Supervalu employees
Eugene F. Koren, Robert E. Mjolsness, Richard G. Olson, John H. Stinson,
and William R. Troehler. Contact:
Gray Plant Mooty, Minneapolis
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
