United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Johnson & Higgins
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
5 F. Supp. 2d 181 (1998)
- Written by Jody Stuart, JD
Facts
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) (plaintiff) brought an action in this court against Johnson & Higgins (Johnson) (defendant), alleging that Johnson’s retirement policy for its employee-directors violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. This court entered a judgment against Johnson and directed the parties to enter into discovery to determine money damages. Subsequently, Johnson obtained signed waivers from the retired employee-directors that offered each director $1,000 in exchange for waiving any rights or claims under the act. The EEOC did not participate in the waiver-negotiation or waiver-signing processes. On the basis of the obtained waivers, Johnson moved for summary judgment regarding the issue of damages. The retired employee-directors filed affidavits repudiating their waivers, arguing that the waivers were not knowingly and voluntarily given. The EEOC opposed Johnson’s motion, asserting that the waivers were ineffective.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Sand, J.)
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