Disclaimer:
The case on which this summary is based may no longer be current law.
Also, if the case was decided on summary judgment, the court recited the
"facts" in the light most favorable to the non-movant, which may not be
the true facts.
-------------------------
Eleventh Circuit addresses the issue of whether a corporation engaging in a
nationwide reduction in force must provide terminated employees with
nationwide information in order to obtain a waiver of ADEA claims that
complies with the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act.
Burlison v. McDonald's Corp., 455
F.3d 1242 (11th Cir. July 11, 2006) - This is an ADEA action. In the fall of 2001,
McDonald's engaged in a corporate restructuring and a reduction in force.
McDonald's reduced its U.S. divisions from five to three and its U.S.
regions from thirty-eight to twenty-one. Of relevance to this case, the
former Atlanta region merged with the former Nashville and Greenville
regions to form a new Atlanta region. With respect to the reduction in
force, McDonald's reduced its workforce by about 500 employees nationwide.
The Atlanta region had 208 employees and 66 were discharged. The plaintiffs
are five discharged employees from the Atlanta region. McDonald's offered
severance packages to the terminated employees in return for signing a
release. The plaintiffs signed the release and then two years later brought
this lawsuit alleging age discrimination. The district court granted summary
judgment on behalf of the plaintiffs on the issue of whether the releases
were void because they failed to comply with the information requirements of
the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act ("OWBPA"). McDonald's then filed
this interlocutory appeal. In an attempt to comply with the OWBPA,
McDonald's provided terminated employees with an information sheet for each
region. "The Information Sheet for the Atlanta/Nashville/Greenville Regions:
(1) listed the job titles and ages of 208 employees in the three former
regions; (2) identified which of those employees had been selected for
discharge and offered severance packages; and (3) identified which of those
employees were not being discharged." 29 U.S.C. § 626(f)(1)(H) requires that
employers seeking waivers in connection with group terminations must:
inform[] the individual in writing in a
manner calculated to be
understood by the average individual eligible to participate, as to —
(i) any class, unit, or group of individuals covered by such program,
any eligibility factors for such program, and any time limits applicable
to such program; and
(ii) the job titles and ages of all individuals eligible or
selected for the program, and the ages of all individuals in the same
job classification or organizational unit who are not eligible or
selected for the program.
The district court interpreted subsection
(ii) as requiring certain information to be disclosed on a nationwide basis
and other information to be disclosed only on a decisional unit basis. The
Eleventh Circuit determines that the statute is ambiguous as to the required
disclosures and reaches the conclusion that the OWBPA only requires
disclosure of information related to the decisional unit, which in this case
is the Atlanta region. Since McDonald's did that, the grant of summary
judgment in favor of the employees is reversed. Click
here to see actual case.