Jack Gross name has become synonymous with the difficulty of fighting age discrimination in the workplace.
Gross case was ultimately appealed to the Supreme Court.
Since Gross case, employees have had to prove that age was the deciding factor.
Despite the lingering impact of his case, he still believes he did the right thing.
A lot of people are being hurt based on my case, he says.
That’s my big regret.
The problems started forGross when he and several other older workers at FBL Financial Groupwere demoted.
After Gross filed his age discrimination case, things got rough.
“I felt like I was crossing enemy lines whenever I walked in to the office, he recalls.
For decades before the lawsuit, Gross had eaten lunch with a group of colleagues.
Now he ate alone.
I didn’t want anyone else to get in trouble for being friends with me, he says.
Since leaving the company, Gross has learned to cope with the loss.
The act was first introduced in 2009, and Gross says he hopes it will someday become law.
“I have nothing to gain financially at this point, Gross says.
But a lot of people are being denied justice because of my case.
I’d like to see that changed.”
And he certainly wasn’t ready for retirement.
He felt the telephone interview before the in-person interview had gone very well.
Cardwell was angry, and he decided to fight.
In 2017, Ruby Tuesday paid $45,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on Cardwell’s behalf.
He is retired, but not by choice.
I have pretty much thrown in the towel, he says.
I would have much preferred to work many more years.”
It’s that it sent an email explaining why he was passed over for the job.
Without that, Cardwell believes he would not have won a settlement.
