The Philadelphia district office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought this suit in September 2006 against DHL Express (USA), Inc., a major national shipping company, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The complaint alleged that DHL refused to hire a 53-year-old applicant because of his age, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). The applicant applied for the position of Delivery Driver/Courier Guard. The plaintiff alleged that DHL instead hired less qualified individuals under the age of 40 for the same position. The EEOC sought a permanent injunction preventing the defendant from engaging in discriminatory hiring practices.

Judge Patricia A. Gaughan granted DHL’s motion for summary judgment on November 20, 2007. In the motion to dismiss, DHL asserted that the applicant did not have the relevant driving experience required for the position. Additionally, DHL contended that the applicant “did not communicate well and appeared unprepared.” Judge Gaughan found that DHL articulated a non-discriminatory reason for not hiring the applicant and the plaintiff failed to provide a pretext as to why DHL’s explanation more likely than not was not the reason the applicant did not get the job.

The EEOC appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in January 2008 but did not pursue the appeal later that year. The court dismissed the appeal at the request of the parties in May 2008 and the case is now closed.

Shankar Viswanathan - 05/30/2008
Richa Bijlani - 11/22/2019


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