On October 2, 1995, former employees of Storage Tek Corporation filed a lawsuit under ERISA, the ADEA, and the ADA, against Storage Tek in the United States District Court, District of Colorado. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, asked the court for injunctive, declaratory, and ...
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On October 2, 1995, former employees of Storage Tek Corporation filed a lawsuit under ERISA, the ADEA, and the ADA, against Storage Tek in the United States District Court, District of Colorado. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, asked the court for injunctive, declaratory, and compensatory relief, claiming that they were wrongfully discharged. Specifically, plaintiffs claimed that they were treated less favorably than younger employees as a result of a company-wide strategy to reduce costs and its older workforce.
On November 26, 1997, the District Court (Judge Lewis Babcock) granted Plaintiffs' motion to certify an ADEA collective action but denied the motion to certify an ERISA class action. The Court found that conditional certification of an ADEA action was appropriate because Plaintiffs had shown that members of the proposed class were negatively impacted by Defendant's "Strategic Plan." However, the Court declined to certify an ERISA class action because Plaintiffs' proposed class definition was over-inclusive. Vaszlavik v. Storage Tek Corp., 175 F.R.D. 672 (D. Col. 1997).
The Court granted Plaintiffs' second motion to certify an ERISA class action on November 9, 1998. The Court found that Plaintiffs' revised class definition was adequate to define the class. The ERISA class was defined as: "all employees who were over the age of 40 at the time of their layoffs by employer, between April 13, 1993, and Dec. 31, 1996, because of their perceived above-average use or perceived anticipated above-average use of company benefits." Vaszlavik v. Storage Tek Corp., 183 F.R.D. 264 (D. Col. 1998).
On March 9, 2000, the Court approved the parties' settlement and dismissed the case. The settlement provided $5 million to members of the ADEA class and injunctive and declaratory relief to members of the ERISA class. Vaszlavik v. Storage Tek Corp., 2000 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 21129 (D. Col. Mar. 9, 2000). On the same day, the Court also granted Plaintiffs' counsel approximately $1.8 million in fees and costs.
The case has thus been resolved and was closed in March 2000.
Haley Waller - 08/19/2010
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