By: Alejandro Bopido-Memba, Business Writer, The Detroit Free Press
February 17, 2001
James Brazin, who has worked at Ford Motor Co. for 32 years, says he's being forced out of the company because he is an aging white male.
The 55-year-old mechanical engineer and two other white-collar employees at Ford have filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status in U.S. District Court in Detroit, accusing the Dearborn-based automaker of age and race discrimination.
The suit, which seeks damages in excess of $1 million, alleges that Ford President and CEO Jacques Nasser has directed managers to increase the number of minorities and females at Ford while decreasing the number of white men in order that the workforce reflects the company's customer bases.
"Nasser is making the older white workers bear the burden of his diversity agenda," said James Fett, Brazin's Pinckney attorney.
The suit filed Thursday is the second discrimination lawsuit against Ford in three days. Tuesday, nine disgruntled managers filed a separate suit alleging age discrimination.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits age bias in employment decisions involving workers 40 or older.
But in the last 10 years as the baby boom generation has edged closer toward retirement, age has become a big issue in the workplace.
"I think there is a significant increase in the perception within many large corporations that people over 45 lack energy and aren't receptive to new ideas," said Glen Lenhoff, a Flint lawyer who also represents Brazin and the other two plaintiffs. "I think some corporations feel that such a person is not consistent with a dynamic and evolving company."
A recent study by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. found that, while only 10 percent of engineers older than 45 attributed negative work experiences to age, the survey found that supervisors believe the skills of engineers 45 years or older begin to slip compared with younger counterparts.
While not commenting on the specifics of the pending cases, Ford denied that its hiring or performance evaluations are discriminatory. "Our whole viewpoint on diversity is that we want a pool of employee talent that reflects the diversity of America," said Edward Miller, a Ford spokesman.
"We do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation."
At issue for Brazin and fellow plaintiffs John Streeter, 56, of Grosse Ile, and an unidentified 59-year-old Allen Park man, is the idea that Ford has rigged its evaluation system so that it unfairly targets older white men for negative ratings.
The so-called Performance Management Process began in January 2000. The program requires that 10 percent of employees receive A grades, 80 percent B's and 10 percent C's. The policy change this year so 5 percent of employees must receive C grades.
Those who receive C's are ineligible for a raise or bonus. A C for two consecutive years is grounds for demotion or termination.
"Essentially, Ford has changed the rules on these 25- to 30-year veteran employees," Fett said. "Ford went from a merit-based company to a company that is motivated by race and gender first and only secondarily by merit. They are trying to drive out older white male employees so they can have a more diverse workforce."
Until last year, Brazin had consistently received excellent and outstanding annual work reviews from Ford, his attorney says.
But some experts say some workers in more traditional brick-and-mortar companies tend to be more vulnerable to downsizing in a world of changing technology.
"A technology-led youth revolution has made its way into the marketplace over the last five years of this economic expansion," said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago-based workplace and employment researcher. "There is a general sense that the people under the age of 35 have a special purchase on that technology, and that kind of concerns older workers, which exacerbates defensiveness on their part."
Ford says it replaced its four-category rating system last year because it hoped to focus on each employee's job goals and the company's business plan. "We did set hard objectives, and failing to meet those objectives can be a problem," Miller said. "But our performance process certainly isn't a job-reduction program."
Meanwhile, Brazin wonders what will happen with his case. He said he is on leave from his job due to stress and is under a doctor's supervision as a result of the performance review.
"I feel this is a case of reverse discrimination on the part of Ford," said Brazin, a parking systems technical specialist at the Livonia transmission plant. "It's just very unfair when you start these unofficial quotas for performance reviews."
Contact ALEJANDRO BODIPO-MEMBA at 313-222-5008 or bodipo@freepress.com
Copyright (c) 2001 Detroit Free Press
Record Number: 0102170035
