The following is not meant to be legal advice.
In Burlison v. McDonald’s Corporation, 455 F.3d 1242 (11th Cir. 2006), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the age statistics to be provided with releases of age discrimination claims under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) are limited to the decisional unit considered for the discharged employees.
The case was brought by plaintiffs, five employees of McDonald’s Corporation (McDonald) whose employment was terminated with a nationwide restructuring at McDonald’s. McDonald’s offered severance packages to its terminated employees in exchange for waiving any claims that they might have against McDonald’s.
Each of the plaintiffs signed a release. About two years later, the plaintiffs filed
age discrimination claims against McDonald’s. The plaintiff’s claims asserted the releases were ineffective for age discrimination claims because the releases failed to give nationwide age statistics.
Relying on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s implementing regulations, the Circuit Court held that the appropriate decisional unit is defined by the portion of the employer’s organizational structure from which the employer chose the individuals who would be offered consideration for the signing of a release.
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