In an unusual move, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit accusing Eli Lilly of age discrimination in hiring its sales representatives around the country.
The federal agency contended that a Lilly human resources executive made a presentation in April 2017 that indicated the company’s national workforce was “skewed toward the older generations” and had 20% fewer millennials than the American workforce, overall, which was seen as a problem that needed to be addressed, according to the lawsuit.
“[Lilly has] got to make sure that we have a workforce that is distributed … by generation,” said Steven Fry, senior vice president for human resources and diversity. He then announced that the company would have a goal of 40% in “early career” hiring. For example, older candidates for certain sales rep positions needed higher levels of review and approval before being extended an offer, the suit stated.
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