US sues BP Amoco on age discrimination

11 May 1999 17:58  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (CNI)--BP Amoco on Tuesday declined comment on an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the US government seeking damages for machinists denied jobs at the company's Texas City, Texas chemical plant.

In the suit, the US Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) charges that Amoco Chemical and its successor parent BP Amoco violated US law "by using a hiring process which was designed to discriminate - or was implemented in a manner that discriminated - against older workers who had applied for positions as machinists."

The EEOC's investigation stems from information provided by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), a state agency that referred 37 unemployed machinist applicants to Amoco in June 1997, according to EEOC's Houston office.

Although half of the applicants were 40 years old or older, Amoco offered jobs only to applicants younger than 40, the EEOC alleged. The agency said applicants in their 40s and 50s were often more experienced.

"The EEOC's investigation determined that 15 applicants were interviewed face-to-face by four different Amoco representatives and that the seven youngest interviewees were offered jobs while none of the eight oldest received an offer," the EEOC said.

But Daren Beaudo, a spokesman for the plant, said, "It is our policy not to discriminate based on sex, age or race." He said the company has not received a copy of the suit and does not generally comment on pending litigation.

Besides damages for lost wages, the agency also seeks a court ordering prohibiting BP Amoco from engaging in discriminatory practices.

"When job applicants with over 20 years of experience are brushed aside in favour of applicants who are barely 20 years of age, the talents of productive and experienced workers are wasted," said H Joan Ehrlich, district director for the EEOC's Houston office.

By: Gary Taylor
+1 713 525 2653

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