A California-based moving company that prides itself on its young employees and fans is being sued by the federal government for age discrimination.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against Meathead Movers for violating age discrimination laws by not hiring workers who are old enough, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Since launching in 1997, the Fresno-based company’s mission has been to hire student-athletes. His social media posts show his young, muscular workers lifting weights and lifting boxes.
Employees, nicknamed “Meatheads,” each year face off against each other in the Meathead Olympics, racing to get together and jump over boxes.
During the move, workers were required to run from the moving truck to the house when they were empty-handed, according to the Journal.
The company states on its website that “its founding principle is to support working athletes in pursuit of their dream career path and that will never change.”
California-based Meathead Movers is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for age discrimination in its hiring and hiring practices. Meat Head Movers “Meat Heads” are required to run from the moving truck to the house when they are empty-handed. Meat Head Mover
Meathead Movers executives denied they discriminated against older workers, claiming the job was too demanding for those who weren’t in the best of shape.
“We’re 100% open to hiring anyone of any age if they can do the job,” company owner Aaron Steed told the Journal. “People love working at Meathead, or they’re turned off by how hard it is. You have to move furniture and run to get more.”
The EEOC, chaired by Charlotte Burrows, alleged that Meathead Movers’ marketing and hiring practices discouraged older workers from applying, the WSJ reported. Current employees are asked to find new potential employees at local gyms and colleges, the agency claims.
The agency told the outlet that bias can be present in job ads, marketing materials and intrusive job application questions, such as asking about a student’s class schedule.
The EEOC has been looking into the company since 2017 itself and has not resulted in complaints as most of its investigations. Last year, it received more than 70,000 complaints and filed 91 employment discrimination suits, according to the newspaper.
Social media posts show Meathead Movers employees exercising before moving customers into their homes. Meathead Movers The EEOC began investigating the Fresno, Calif.-based company. in 2017. Meathead Movers
The two sides tried to negotiate a settlement, with the agency demanding $15 million before dropping it to about $5 million, according to internal emails reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
Meathead responded with an offer of $750,000 to settle. The EEOC filed the suit in September.
“We didn’t know we were doing anything wrong by being a mobile company that took on so many student athletes,” Steed told the WSJ.
“We want to change and grow, but we can’t agree to go out of business doing it.”
Burrows was appointed chairman of the EEOC by President Biden. Since Democrats took control of the agency in August, commissioners have voted seven times on age discrimination matters. They voted on the age issue only three times this year before that.
He vowed to enforce age discrimination laws on age bias because nearly a quarter of the country’s workforce is over 55, and the agency appears to be actively pursuing age discrimination cases.
According to the Department of Labor, the number of seniors over the age of 65 in the workforce will increase by a third in the next 10 years.
The Post has reached out to the EEOC for comment on the lawsuit.
Advocates for older Americans applaud agencies for taking action against age discrimination.
“Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is over 50 years old. I’m pretty sure he’ll be good at moving boxes,” Bill Alvarado Rivera, senior vice president for litigation at AARP, an association for the rights of the elderly, told the Journal.
“Such stereotypes about who can be good movers have no place in an economy that values the individual.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
