MASON CITY – A group of former employees of the Curries door manufacturer in Mason City has brought a lawsuit in federal court seeking compensation for damages arising out of employment terminations (firings) they say were connected to their age.
Plaintiff Dennis Behr filed this action against Curries, on November 21, 2014, alleging a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), a federal law. Behr also filed a motion for conditional class certification to bring other former employees who were fired (they say due to their age) into the lawsuit. Curries filed a resistance to Behr’s motion.
In support of his motion, Behr submitted certain information to the court along with affidavits from three members of the potential class: Dale Glen, Ronald White and Glenn Willier. Glen states that he was a 51 year-old manufacturing engineer at the time of the RIF and that his position was not actually eliminated. Instead, he states that he was replaced by a new, younger employee, approximately 25 years-old.
White states that he was a 67 year-old shipping manager at the time of the RIF and that his job duties were assumed by a younger, less-experienced employee. He also states that shortly before the Reduction in Workforce (RIF), he was asked by Curries’ director of human services if he was planning to retire soon. According to White, he responded by stating that he did not plan to retire.
Willier states that he was a 65 year-old maintenance mechanic at the time of the RIF and that he was the oldest maintenance mechanic in the maintenance department. He also states that shortly before the RIF, he had made arrangements with Curries under which he would begin to work a reduced schedule, but never had the opportunity to work under that reduced schedule before the RIF. Willier states that all of the maintenance mechanics who were younger than him retained their jobs after the RIF.
In support of its resistance, Curries has also submitted certain information to the court including the affidavit of Vicki Gordon, its director of human resources, and various records. In her affidavit, Gordon states that approximately 175 employees were eligible for inclusion in the RIF. Curries’ records show that only 26 of those employees, or about 15%, were under the age of 40 when the RIF occurred. Gordon states that the employees chosen for discharge were selected for a variety of reasons, including the elimination of their positions, their stated intentions concerning retirement, performance issues and status as part-time employees. According to Gordon, each affected employee was notified of his or her termination on February 17, 2014, and all signed agreements entitled “Separation Agreement, General Release and Covenant Not to Sue.”
The ADEA allows an employee to bring an action on his or her own behalf and on behalf of other employees similarly situated to enforce the provisions of the ADEA.
In a brief filed on October 6, the conditional class certification status of the lawsuit was granted in federal court, allowing for up to 12 plaintiffs (former employees who were fired) to take part in the case against Curries.
However, Curries may seek to eliminate each former employee individually from the lawsuit.
“Curries is free to seek the dismissal of individual, opt-in plaintiffs based on their execution of Separation Agreements,” wrote Judge Leonard T. Strand.
The parties shall submit a proposed scheduling order and discovery plan for the remainder of this case on or before November 16, 2015.
Curries will sell you down the river to make a quick buck.
As LVS would say “be glad you even have a job, take what they give you, submit, conform, obey.”
Curries was laying people off left and right in 2008. They didn’t give workers a raise. You know what they gave themselves?
Raises.
@Johan-Do you think for a instance they will not lay off with a union. They will cut people in the blink of a eye and start moving jobs to Mexico before the ink dries on the contract. They have decent wages and decent benefits and a lot of people will lose them just to pay $70 to belong to the union. Unions are dead and there is a reason for that. All your dues go to the big union bosses who make millions on your dollar.
Iowa is a right to work state – nobody has to pay any dues to any union.
What most people do not understand is that ALL company’s that have a Union Contract put in “MANAGEMENT RIGHTS”. That means they have the right to manage the company as they see fit. In other words, the Union has no right to dictate any thing to do with the actual running of the business. People think because they have a union they can cure everything they don’t like and it is just not true. Curries already has a operation in Mexico. If you want to see American jobs (Yours) go there vote in the Union. If you want to keep you job with decent pay and benefits do Not vote for the union. Ask IMI, Holcim, Armor, White Farm and many others.
Your stats have no bearing on the fact that when you downsize a company you then use it as an excuse to fire one worker and hire another to replace him/her. This is the big lie in all of this labor law bullshit!
Assa Abloy
Since 2006, 61 production units have been closed, 74 have been converted into assembly plants and 29 office units have been
closed. The majority of the remaining production units
in high-cost countries have switched from full production
to mainly final assembly and customization.
As a result of this restructuring, 9,000 employees have left
the Group. In the Europe-dominated EMEA division, for
example, the number of employees in direct production
has fallen from 7,700 to 4,700 in eight years, and in indirect
production from 3,100 to 1,850, as the number of
factories has fallen from 70 to 40.
Can’t agree this is “bottom line capitalism”. What Curries and many employers are doing is using “bad” labor laws to their benefit.
Capitalism is an economic system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. Capitalism is about free enterprise that creates competition and benefits us all with lower prices for goods and services.
In this case Curries is using STATE & Federal labor laws created by the Democrats/Republicans and their push toward socialism for their financial gain. These socialistic laws have come back to crap in the nest of the working man!
Got to keep it in perspective. Sorry.
Curries in the good old days was a great place to work but then come a son to run the place and he wants to make a name for himself then he gets ousted by the board of directors and now you have a overseas company that only gives a rats ass is how much they make and how can I f**k the employee and get away with it. UNION UNION UNION dont let then scare you about closing, if it does it was gonna anyway.
I was laid off in 01 with having a disability from the gulf war. I was army ng . I worked for the company before and then after the war. When I came back home they wanted to start me back as Iif I hadnt been there before the war.
When I worked at the Globe, they used to fire people, advertise the job opening, and then re-hire the fired person for the same job … at a new rate of pay, a fraction of what it was. Welcome to bottom-line capitalism. The ones with the power capitalize on those who got nothin’. This is one reason I walked in and handed my resignation. I left that world behind forever, a world very much like the one depicted in the movie Office Space. My advice to anyone who is able: Learn a trade, a skill, and make your own way if at all possible.
Curries changes policies on the basis of what best suits them.
Employees are required to sign a statement about following and abiding the rules in the handbook – company has no obligation to do so and will change the rules as they go.
Overtime pay is based on 8 hour day – weekend crew works 12 hours a day – “no OT for you because not over 40 hours a week.”
“We will hire more people so that you won’t have to work every Saturday for 6 months.” They don’t and forecast workforce to actually be smaller this year than last.
Hiring more people, keep them as temps for 7, 8 , 9 months or more – and when they ask to transfer shifts for going to school tell them “no, you should just quit.”
Keep temps as temps for 8 months – sorry we’re no longer hiring, try again next year.
“We need more lead men to watch you work.”
Just to be clear, there is no law about overtime hours for over 8 hours in a day. The only applicable law is for over 40 hours per week.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime_pay.htm
They have their own rule about paying it, so idgaf what you googled.
Curries often treats it’s employees like crap. I have heard of many employees being injured on the job, even losing fingers and Curries does NOT have their back, even fighting workman’s comp.
Yeah and all you shit-tards better thank Obama and the Democrats for protective legislation such as this. I’m sick and tired of you jerks benefiting from the socialist protections put in place to help protect against the WOLVES of WALL STREET. Curries is like Serta and a handful of other EXPLOITATIVE corporations that work humans HARD AND LONG and then throw them away. REVOLUTION.
Unionization is the answer.
Yeah, Peter Lagios like you’d know anything about hard and or long work. You are laughable at best and plainly pathetic as usual.
Now go away as you have ordered to do. You are banned from here and are not welcome.
Like you’ve ever worked a day in your life to know what hard work is. You have no idea what it’s like to have to work. To keep food on the table for our children, clothes on their back, and keeping the lights on. You are a spoiled man child who cannot and refuses to support himself. You would never be able to care for a child or a family. No run along back to mommy’s basement before she grounds you from the computer again. Jackass.
try packing 200 tires solid dirt with a sledgehammer sometime by yourself 7 rows high while fending off killer mosquitoes in the month of July.
Sounds like the work of a madman.
That’s not a job. You still were mooching off mommy. And if I recall, you quit that also. Go away. Working and taking care of a family is something you no absolutely nothing about.
“try packing 200 tires solid dirt with a sledgehammer sometime by yourself 7 rows high while fending off killer mosquitoes in the month of July.”
Yeah, cry me a river. Need I remind you, abandoned that “project” too and left the quaint little village of Burdette, IA looking like the arm-pit of Iowa. You should be ashamed of yourself for the mess you left and the troubles you caused. People are still referring to you as the Clear Lake Psycho and they are glad you left and took your attitude with you. I have a picture of the mess you started. If I can find it, I’ll see if I can get it posted.
PS….All those “killer mosquitoes” you bawled about. Well they died from biting you. Hope your happy.
“The homeless man I tried to help was a Nutjob.”
Well said……POT.