Opinion ID: 2994594
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Waivers and OWBPA

Text: ASI and Indiana Bell have attacked the district court’s ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor that the waivers many of them signed were invalid under the OWBPA. This point is relevant to the ADEA claims (because if the waivers were valid, the ADEA claims are barred), and so we must address it. The Act states that an individual may not waive any right or claim . . . unless the waiver is knowing and voluntary. 29 U.S.C. sec. 626(f). In addition, if the waiver is sought in connection with an early retirement program, it must meet the following additional requirements: (H) if a waiver is requested in connection with an exit incentive or other employment termination program offered to a group or class of employees, the employer . . . informs the individual in writing in a manner calculated to be understood by the average individual eligible to participate, as to-- (i) any class, unit, or group of individuals covered by such program, any eligibility factors for such program, and any time limits applicable to such program; and (ii) the job titles and ages of all individuals eligible or selected for the program, and the ages of all individuals in the same job classification or organizational unit who are not eligible or selected for the program. 29 U.S.C. sec. 626(f)(1)(H). The waivers that the plaintiffs signed in this case did not refer to the job titles of those selected for the program; instead, they mentioned only salary grade. As we noted above, in this context the defendants have suddenly decided that salary grade gives plenty of detail. We do not need to decide here whether a literal job title is always required. Indeed, as the Sixth Circuit suggested in Raczak v. Ameritech Corp., 103 F.3d 1257 (6th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1107 (1998), such a literal approach to the statute could lead to hypertechnical requirements that have little to do with the purpose of the law. Id. at 1262-64. Here, however, the court found that salary grade was too general to furnish the kind of information the statute contemplated. As a form of worker protection legislation, the OWBPA demands information that allows people to ascertain whether they are being treated fairly vis-a-vis their peers. Congress’s use of the term job title indicates that it wanted that information to be quite specific (that is, more literal and particular than the functional approach for which the defendants are arguing, which would have been adequate for a statistician). On this record, we see no error in the district court’s decision that the particular waivers these plaintiffs signed failed to comply with the Act. We also affirm the district court’s decision that the additional waivers signed by some individuals who sought to join the Allard litigation were valid. Charles Steinmetz and Raymond Winkler sought permission to opt in as plaintiffs in the Allard case. Magistrate Judge