IKEA Wants Employee Age Bias Class Action Dumped

IKEA told a federal court that an age bias class action lawsuit filed by an employee is too vague and should be tossed.

Plaintiff Brandon Paine, 48, says the company’s employment policies and practices stymies older workers from receiving promotions and otherwise moving forward in their careers.

Paine accused IKEA of violating the Age Discrimination Employment Act, or ADEA.

The ADEA protects workers over 40 from discriminatory practices when it comes to promotional practices, as well as terminations and layoffs. Companies with more than 20 employees must be able to justify promoting younger workers over older, as well as laying off employees over the age of 40.

According to the IKEA class action, Paine was hired into a management position with the Swedish furniture retailer in 2004 and received positive evaluations since.

However, Paine says that he has been denied the opportunity to move into higher ranking positions due to IKEA’s employment policies, specifically their recruitment, leadership, and promotional policies.

IKEA shot back against the age bias class action lawsuit, contending that the allegations are not specific enough and fail to establish how the company’s employment practices have an impact on older workers.

“Because Plaintiff has failed to identify a specific facially neutral practice, policy, or procedure claimed responsible for the alleged disparity, his ADEA disparate impact claim must be dismissed,” states IKEA in its motion to dismiss.

“Plaintiff claims that the amorphous ‘policies’ he depicts in count II are ‘neutral;’ that is, they are not designed or intended to discriminate. But, he also claims that these very same ‘policies’ were pretextual mechanisms of companywide intentional discrimination.”

Alternatively, IKEA says that the class action lawsuit allegations are “conclusory.”

“Plaintiff may not simply gesture toward a ‘generalized policy,’ like ‘promotion,’ and claim it causes a disparate impact,” contends IKEA in its motion to dismiss. “Instead, a plaintiff is responsible for ‘isolat[ing] and identify[ing] the specific employment practices that are allegedly responsible for any observed statistical disparities.’”

Calling the allegations a “shotgun alternative pleading” approach, the Swedish furniture chain says that the IKEA age bias class action lawsuit refers to no specific employment policies.

“None of these general practices, standing alone, are sufficiently specific to place Defendants on notice of what, precisely, Plaintiff claims caused the alleged impact,” contends IKEA’s motion.

Paine’s IKEA age bias class action lawsuit is not the first. Reportedly, five other lawsuits alleging age discrimination have been lodged.

The plaintiff is represented by Julie A. Uebler, Laura C. Mattiacci, Stephen G. Console, Susan M. Saint-Antoine and Brian Farrell of Console Mattiacci Law LLC.

The IKEA Age Bias Class Action Lawsuit is Paine v. IKEA Holding US Inc., et al., Case No.  2:19-­cv-00723, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: On Jan. 23, 2020, a judge trimmed some claims from an IKEA age discrimination class action lawsuit, but will allow workers to pursue some of their allegations against the furniture giant.

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