Out With Old, In With Young, Claim Laid-Off Workers -- Age-Bias Suits Filed Against Qfc

Not a day goes by that Bonnie Lindal doesn't think about the customers she left behind.

Like the little "Skipper Lady" who hobbled around with a hateful cane as she picked her poultry and trundled down the grocery aisles in search of sale items.

And Frank, who was on a fixed income and came in for reduced-priced meats.

And Bill, who was so faithful with his visits that Lindal once remarked: "Bill, if Food Giant ever burned down, you're going to be homeless."

"If they weren't going to buy anything, I at least gave them conversation," Lindal said.

For 17 years, Lindal, 61, worked as a meat wrapper for the former Food Giant in Wallingford. But when Quality Food Centers bought the store in 1996, Lindal was one of many workers over age 40 not hired back, she said. It wasn't because she was unqualified, she contends, but rather because of her age.

The Bothell woman is one of at least five people who last week filed lawsuits in King County Superior Court against QFC, charging age discrimination.

The former employees say they maintained good job-performance records during their employment at Food Giant and were highly qualified for their positions, but they were passed over for jobs when the acquisition occurred. Younger employees are now in their places, they say.

"I was just booted out the door like I never existed, and I was highly qualified," said Lindal, who sued Friday.

Thomas Baily, who worked for 17 years at the Wallingford Food Giant store, and three other former Wallingford Food Giant employees - Warren Zimbehl, Kathy Prince and Lupe Reifers - filed another suit last week. The 60-year-old Edmonds man said he learned he was not going to work for the new QFC store when others were given new-employee packets.

"It seemed a foregone conclusion that some people were going to get hired, and some weren't," Baily said.

QFC, the second-largest grocery chain in the region, denies that it discriminates against workers.

Rosanne Marks, spokeswoman for QFC, said the application process was highly competitive at the time. Although QFC bought only two Food Giant stores, managers at two other Food Giant stores at the time believed those stores, too, would be bought out and asked QFC to also interview their employees.

"What you had is employees of four Food Giant stores interviewing for positions at two stores," Marks said.

Marks wouldn't say how many people of what age lost their jobs following the buyout.

Baily said he knows of at least 20 people over age 40 who were not asked to come back after the acquisition was finalized.

Baily and his colleagues took their complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) last spring. Marks said the commission found no grounds for a lawsuit; however, the attorney for Baily's group, Chris Gamache, said the EEOC simply said it would not be able to complete the investigation into the claims. Officials at the EEOC would not comment on the case.

Legal advisers representing older workers say they've seen a proliferation of age-discrimination complaints in recent years.

Employment experts say companies walk a fine line between their right to legitimately reduce costs by cutting jobs and a worker's right not to be discriminated against because of age.

Companies have hard choices to make when it comes to mergers, buyouts or downsizing, said Ann Reesman, general counsel of the Equal Employment Advisory Council in Washington, D.C. The council files court briefs in EEOC cases on behalf of companies.

"They're put into a position of having to choose between qualified and hard-working people, not because they've done something wrong," Reesman said. "They simply have to reduce the number of employees."

To safeguard against lawsuits, more companies are offering severance pay or early-retirement incentives. Some also have offered outplacement services and training. But those suing QFC say no such benefits were offered to them.

The former Food Giant employees say they've been hard-pressed to find new jobs because of their age.

Baily applied for jobs at several grocery stores in Western Washington. He couldn't get a job even as a bagger, he said.

Lindal said the end of her job at Food Giant marked the end of her career. She was getting paid about $14 an hour at Food Giant and now works as a dishwasher for a Seattle country club for about $6 an hour.