VW Must Face Age Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit

A federal judge has determined that Volkswagen must face an employee age discrimination class action lawsuit, denying the company’s bid for dismissal.

Volkswagen argued that the workers didn’t provided sufficient facts to back up the age bias class action and collective action claim.

However, U.S. District Judge Travis R. McDonough determined that plaintiff Jonathan Manlove did show that employees allegedly affected by age discrimination had a “common contention,” and that the “determination of its truth or falsity will resolve an issue that is central to the validity of each of the claims made in one stroke,” per the requirements for a class action lawsuit.

Specifically, Judge McDonough stated that he believed Manlove established that Volkswagen did have a policy of treating younger workers more favorably than older workers, and had sufficiently argued that the policy represented “the requisite ‘glue’” to hold together the Class.

Manlove’s Volkswagen age discrimination class action states that he and other employees age 50 and older were discriminated against based on their age, as the result of a rebranding effort launched in November 2016.

Allegedly, in November 2016, Volkswagen AG Brand Chief Dr. Herbert Diess announced a rebranding effort known as TRANSFORM 2025+ in conjunction with a global policy known as “Pact for the Future.” The goal of this policy was to reportedly make “significant improvements in efficiency and productivity.”

The Volkswagen age discrimination class action lawsuit asserts that this effort to improve productivity involved a “human resources transformation,” as articulated by the company itself. Notably, this allegedly involved making the management level “younger and slimmer,” according to Diess.

Manlove, who is over the age of 50, claims that to achieve this the company instituted early retirements and showed preference to younger employees. Allegedly, his career was negatively affected by this move.

He claims that in one instance after the rebranding plan was implemented, he was demoted and moved to a lower-ranking and lower-paid position in another division not because of his performance, but because of “economic reasons,” according to a human resources manager.

The Volkswagen lawsuit asserts that many other employees over age 50 were negatively affected, and were demoted or laid off more than younger workers. The age discrimination class action lawsuit also asserts that younger employees were shown a preference for promotion over older employees.

Manlove argues that he and all other Volkswagen employees in the United States who are age 50 and older are negatively affected by Volkswagen’s age discrimination. He seeks damages on behalf of himself and all other similarly affected workers.

Manlove also requests the creation of another Class of employees — all Volkswagen employees 50 and older who worked at Volkswagen’s Tennessee facilities between November 2016 and the date of the final judgement of the Volkswagen class action.

The court already granted conditional certification of an ADEA collective action of Volkswagen employees 50 years of age or older who work in Chattanooga.

Manlove is represented by Kevin Sharp, Leigh Anne St. Charles, David Sanford, and Andrew Melzer of Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP.

The Volkswagen Age Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Jonathan Manlove v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-00145, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

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