Tech giants IBM and its spin-off Kyndryl are once again in the legal spotlight, facing allegations of age discrimination in a lawsuit filed by five veteran executives and employees with over 150 years of combined service.
The Register reports that in a continuing saga of age discrimination accusations, IBM and its former Global Technology Services Group, now known as Kyndryl, find themselves at the center of a new lawsuit. Filed on Tuesday in New York City, the complaint alleges that the companies systematically targeted older workers for job cuts while simultaneously creating similar positions for younger employees.
The lawsuit, brought forth by five former high-ranking executives and employees, paints a damning picture of a corporate culture allegedly bent on “de-aging” its workforce. The plaintiffs, who collectively served the two corporations for more than 150 years, include former directors and vice presidents from various departments within IBM and Kyndryl.
This latest legal action comes despite IBM’s previous denials of systemic age discrimination. In 2022, IBM’s chief global HR officer, Nickel LaMoreaux, rejected what she termed “false claims of systemic age discrimination.” However, the lawsuit argues that discriminatory practices have persisted and even intensified.
The complaint cites several pieces of evidence to support its claims. One such piece is a 2021 case, Townsley v. Int’l Bus. Machines Corp, where an IBM executive allegedly admitted that ageist planning documents from five to six years prior were still being used for hiring decisions. Additionally, the lawsuit references a recently leaked video of IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, which purportedly shows him tying manager bonuses to diversity targets in a context where such targets are alleged to be discriminatory.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that IBM and Kyndryl employed a range of tactics to conceal their alleged discriminatory practices. These include using coded language in corporate planning documents, such as “Early Professional Hire,” “skills remix,” and “revitalization hiring,” to obscure discussions of potentially illegal activities. The lawsuit also describes how company-wide layoffs, referred to as “Resource Actions,” were allegedly formulated to disproportionately target older workers.
According to the complaint, older employees were often set up for failure with impossible performance goals, creating a pretext for termination based on negative performance reviews. The lawsuit alleges that HR departments and high-level executives would place employees on secret internal “Resource Action” lists, marking them for termination before their direct managers were even aware.
The plaintiffs further claim that IBM attempted to hide its replacement of older workers with younger ones by creating different job titles and shifting organizational structures. This made it more difficult to detect that positions were not being eliminated but rather filled by younger employees.
It’s worth noting that this is not an isolated incident for IBM or Kyndryl. The complaint references multiple ongoing and past lawsuits against both companies, alleging various forms of discrimination based on age, race, and disability. These include recent cases against IBM’s Red Hat division and complaints filed with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Kyndryl.
The lawsuit accuses IBM and Kyndryl of violating the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and various state employment laws. The plaintiffs are seeking damages and injunctive relief to address the alleged discriminatory practices.
Read more a the Register here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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