Cleo Darrell Kirkland v. Lockheed Martin Corporation
Published: Dec. 16, 2000 | Result Date: Aug. 31, 2000 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: CV782548 – $0
Judge
Court
Santa Clara Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Thomas C. Thomas
(technical)
Defendant
Michael P. Ward
(technical)
Facts
The plaintiff, 61, worked at defendant Lockheed for 15 years and was the oldest human resource manager at its
Missile & Space facility in Sunnyvale. Out of seven HR managers at his level, he was the first selected for
layoff in the departmentÆs reduction in force in early 1999. Following his selection, a 55-year-old African-
American manager was brought into the department and assumed the plaintiffÆs duties. Eventually, other HR
managers at the same level were ranked with lower level HR representatives to see which persons in the
combined group would stay. The plaintiff was the oldest person in the group. He was ranked near the bottom
and was laid off.
Settlement Discussions
The defendant offered $50,000, with an indication that it would raise the offer to $75,000. The plaintiff demanded $300,000 which was lowered to $275,000 at the beginning of trial.
Damages
Lost income from age 61 to age 68, totaling approximately $700,000.
Deliberation
12 hours
Poll
9-3 (age discrimination), 10-2 (race discrimination), 12-0 (disparate impact)
Length
14 days
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