A California-based moving company that boasts of its young, beefy employees is being sued by the federal government for age discrimination.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Meathead Movers for violating age discrimination law by not hiring enough older workers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Since launching in 1997, the Fresno-based company’s mission has been to recruit student-athletes. His social media posts show his young, muscular employees lifting weights and boxes.
Employees, nicknamed “Meatheads,” compete annually in the Meathead Olympics, competing to assemble and jump boxes.
During moves, workers must run from the moving truck to the house when they are 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 professional career and that will never change.”
California-based Meathead Movers is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for age discrimination in its recruiting and hiring practices. Meatheads Movers “Meatheads” must run from the moving truck to the house when they are empty-handed. Meaty removals
Meathead Movers executives deny that they discriminate against older workers, claiming that the work is simply too demanding for those who are not in top shape.
“We are 100% open to hiring anyone of any age if they can do the job,” company owner Aaron Steed told the Journal. “People either love working at Meathead, or they’re put off by how difficult it is. You have to move furniture and run to get more.”
The EEOC, chaired by Charlotte Burrows, alleges that Meathead Movers’ marketing and hiring practices discourage older workers from applying, the WSJ reported. The agency says current employees are asked to scout local gyms and universities for potential new hires.
The agency told the outlet that discouragement bias can be present in job advertisements, marketing materials and intrusive questions on job applications, such as asking about a student’s class schedule.
The EEOC has been investigating the company since 2017 on its own and did not arise from a complaint as most of its investigations are. Last year it received more than 70,000 complaints and filed 91 lawsuits for employment discrimination, 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, California-based company in 2017. Meathead Movers
The two sides attempted to negotiate a settlement, and the agency demanded $15 million before reducing that amount to about $5 million, according to internal emails reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
Meathead responded with a settlement offer of $750,000. The EEOC filed the lawsuit in September.
“We had no idea we were doing something wrong by being a moving company that hires a lot of student-athletes,” Steed told the WSJ.
“We want to change and evolve, but we cannot accept going out of business doing so.”
Burrows was appointed EEOC chair by President Biden. Since Democrats took control of the agency in August, commissioners have voted seven times on age discrimination issues. Before that, they voted on age issues only three times this year.
It has vowed to enforce age discrimination laws regarding age bias, as nearly a quarter of the country’s workforce is 55 or older, and the agency appears to be aggressively pursuing age discrimination cases.
According to the Department of Labor, the number of people over age 65 in the workforce will grow by one-third over the next 10 years.
The Post contacted the EEOC for comment on the lawsuit.
Advocates for older Americans praised the agency for addressing age discrimination.
“Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is over 50. I’m pretty sure he’d be good at moving boxes,” Bill Alvarado Rivera, senior vice president of litigation at AARP, an older people’s rights association, told the Journal.
“That kind of stereotype about who might be a good mover has no place in an economy that values individuals.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn