EEOC Sues Lilly For Millenial Tilt

According to a suit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Sept. 26, pharmaceutical company Lilly USA allegedly failed to hire older workers for sales jobs in favor of millennials so its workforce would be better distributed by generation. The suit is partially based on statements made by the company’s senior vice president for HR in 2017. At a leadership town hall he noted that Lilly’s workforce was composed of primarily older workers, then announced goals for 40 percent “early career” hiring to add more millennials. From then on Lilly allegedly changed its hiring preferences to under-hire older applicants for sales representative positions. It also imposed higher levels of review and approval before hiring older candidates for certain jobs. The suit is for violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Lilly denied the allegations.