A New Jersey jury recently awarded an engineer $51 million after claims he was discriminated against because of his age. Human resource experts say this may be the largest award ever in an age discrimination case. 

Robert Braden had been employed by Lockheed Martin for almost 30 years when he was suddenly laid off in July 2012 as part of an organization-wide reduction in force (RIF).  Months after, Braden filed a charge of age discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  He claimed he was the oldest of 6 people in a company unit but the only one from the unit fired.

Braden said that he felt as if he was selected for the layoff due to his senior age (66).  The two other employees in Braden’s unit had the same title, were significantly younger and allowed to keep their jobs. He also alleged that the company had a pattern of giving younger employees better reviews and better raises in order to keep them at the company.  Older workers were given lower ratings and lower raises because, “they had nowhere else to go.” 

Braden withdrew his claim with the EEOC so he could sue Lockheed Martin in a New Jersey federal court (2014).  Lockheed Martin defended the claims and said Braden had a below average record of performance, lacked many skills and was not terminated because of any discriminatory reason.  The jury ended up siding with Braden and awarded him almost $50 million in punitive damages and $520,000 for lost wages.