On March 29, 2024, Judge Edward J. Davila of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order granting final approval of an $18 million class action and collective action settlement to resolve age discrimination claims against HP Inc. (formerly named Hewlett-Packard Company) and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company (collectively, “HP”). The court also approved plaintiffs’ application for attorneys’ fees and costs, and awarded service payments to the five named plaintiffs.
“The settlement is an excellent result for class and collective members, who will each receive on average more than $50,000,” said Andrus Anderson partner Jennie Lee Anderson, who was co-lead counsel in the case. “We believe it is among the highest per capita recoveries in an age discrimination class action settlement in the history of these statutes,” she added.
Plaintiffs initially filed the case on August 18, 2016, alleging that HP discriminated against older employees while implementing its multi-year work force reduction plan (“WFR”) in an effort to fire older employees and replace them with younger ones.
Once the time limit to appeal has passed, the court-appointed settlement administrator will begin sending payment to the 356 individuals who either opted into the Age Discrimination in Employment Act collective action or are members of the California Classes. The California Classes consist of individuals who were over 40 years of age when they were terminated in California as part of HP’s WFR between August 18, 2012, and February 15, 2022, and who did not sign a waiver or agreement to arbitrate their claims.