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Laid-off Shaw's Employees Win in Court Against the Grocery Store Company

Maine’s high court has given a number of former full-time Shaw’s employees a victory as they pursue an age discrimination lawsuit against the grocery store chain.

Attorney Jeffrey Neil Young, who’s representing the former workers, says that, just over 5 years ago, Shaw’s terminated more than 700 employees in its New England stores, including around 70 full time employees in Maine. Young says that the lawsuit alleges, and the Maine Human Rights Commission agreed, that the decision to exclude part-time employees from the reduction in force had a disparate impact on older employees in violation of the Maine Human Rights Act.

The Maine High Court rejected Shaw’s argument that an age discrimination provision found in federal law should be considered. Young says his clients can argue that there were other ways Shaws could have saved the same amount amount of money without letting go of all the older employees.

“For example you could offered the older employees the opportunity to take a pay cut, to work fewer hours, so forth,” Young says.

The case now goes back to Federal Court. Young says he anticipates filing a motion soon seeking class certification.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.