On Jan. 28, a dockworker won $257,500 in an age discrimination suit against his longtime employer. In 2006, Donald Wayne Smith, then 62, was laid off after 45 years of employment with Central Freight Lines Inc. He claimed that in his last months of employment he received a disproportionate number of disciplinary write-ups and that the company changed its layoff guidelines. He alleged the new guidelines exempted part-time and supervisory employees to ensure he was laid off while younger workers with worse work records were retained. Central Freight argued Smith’s termination and the guideline changes were the result of legitimate business decisions aimed at cutting costs.
Smith v. Central Freight Lines Inc., No. CC-07-16351
