Tommy Morgan’s job life wasn’t unusual, until it ended. During a 20-year career with New York Life Insurance, Morgan earned promotions that boosted him up the company ladder and to the lofty perch of managing partner of his local branch. Along the way he earned “high marks for job performance and a good reputation among colleagues”, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The reason Ohio’s largest newspaper became interested in Morgan didn’t have to do with how he did his job, but how he was done in by it. Not long after New York Life circulated a staff memo saying it would seek a “new generation of managers”, Morgan was fired from the Northern Ohio branch. He sued and nearly a year later was awarded an astounding $16 million from a jury.
"If I could emphasize one thing, it's the feeling of helplessness when you get the phone call after 20 years of dedicated service," Morgan told the Plain Dealer in November. "They were making room for younger people. It's just not fair. And thank goodness the jury saw that."
Morgan, who was fired at age 52 and on Sept. 20, 2005, relocated to Austin, Texas, and is working with a life insurance company while the civil case is appealed. Rather than being an anomaly of the workplace, Morgan’s tale appears to be a harbinger of legal cases to come. Age discrimination lawsuits are on the rise in the United States and bias against older workers appears to be rampant. A recent study by Texas A&M economics professor Joanna Lahey revealed that younger job candidates are 40% more likely to be interviewed for a position than their older counterparts. In addition, an Ohio State University survey discovered 84% of American workers over 60 “reported incidents of age-related insulting jokes, disrespect, patronizing behavior and assumptions about frailty or ailments”.
While this behavior is nothing new, the number of people objecting to age discrimination continues to increase and that rebelliousness from members of society who are supposedly stuck in their ways is cause for headlines. In the past, older workers may have simply allowed themselves to be forced out. Not any more. People like Morgan are putting up a fight.
“This generation of workers is the best educated in history, and, typically, the better-educated workers resolve to remain on the job longer, deferring retirement for as long as possible. But the business world favors early retirement over extended workplace participation. Thus, the stage is set for a massive collision of interests — the interests of an expanding group of older workers to remain in the workforce and the interests of their employers to replace them with younger, lower-paid workers,” writes Raymond F. Gregory in his book “Age Discrimination in the American Workplace: Old at a Young Age”.
The odd thing about age discrimination is it doesn’t make much sense in corporate America, where profits and efficiency are presumed to be everything. Study after study has shown how vital experienced workers are to the viability of many enterprises. Even the old argument that businesses are burdened by the health-care costs for older workers has been proven to be a myth. A survey of companies conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons, revealed employer-paid health-care expenses for most workers over 50 is the same as their younger peers and is rarely more than 3% higher.
As Debra Cohen, chief knowledge officer for the Society for Human Resource Management, in Alexandria, Va., notes, age discrimination doesn’t make business sense and more and more human resources professionals are recognizing it. “Nearly three-quarters of professionals tell us that older workers are most valued by the organization, mainly because they bring to the table invaluable experience and the ability to mentor less experienced workers,” Cohen said.
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