Two Scientists Win $6.2 Million Award In Age Discrimination Suit

(Published November 16, 2009)

 

A federal jury awarded more than $6.2 million to two scientists who claimed they had lost their jobs at a chemical manufacturing firm in a 2005 layoff that had illegally targeted workers age 55 and over.  (Marcus, et al. v. PQ Corp., E.D.PA, No. 07-cv-02075, 2009)

 

The company claimed its reasons for letting the employees go were unrelated to age, and the employees countered that the company had manipulated data in order to justify the terminations.

 

The jury concluded that age was the "but-for cause" of the terminations, and that the discrimination was "willful," which automatically doubled each plaintiff's back-pay award.  The jury also awarded compensatory damages to each scientist.