Facts

Doe Plaintiff 1 and Doe Plaintiff 2 were 69 and 70-year-old waitresses, respectively, for Roe Defendant, a popular national diner chain. Doe 1 worked for over 38 years for the corporate restaurant chain. Doe 2 worked for over 10 years. The plaintiffs filed suit for age discrimination.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs contended that they had terrific reviews when the diner was corporately owned. But, when a franchisee purchased it from corporate, the two plaintiff waitresses began to be harassed. The plaintiffs contended that their hours were being systematically cut because of their age. They claimed that the franchise owner was overheard saying "get rid of the two old ones." They further claimed that, when the general manager refused, the franchise owner brought in another general manager to run the diner. The plaintiffs contended that the new manager was overheard saying things like: "[plaintiffs] are too old to work here," "[plaintiffs] are too old and slow to take care of their station," "we need to force [the plaintiffs] out," "let's put [plaintiffs] in a busier section, so that more customers complain," "we need to hire somebody that is not so old - we need fresh people," etc.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
The defendants denied the allegations.

Result

The parties settled in approximately November 2009 for $266,000, the policy limits of the franchise owners EPLI policy.

Other Information

According to plaintiffs counsel, plaintiffs only agreed to settle after they verified that franchise owner was on the verge of bankruptcy. FILING DATE: Nov. 14, 2008.