IBM executives labelled older employees as “dinobabies” and discussed ways to make them “extinct,” documents made public by a Federal District Court on Friday show.
The emails were submitted as part of an ageism lawsuit brought against the IT firm and its efforts “to oust older employees from its workforce” and replace them with millennials, according to the plaintiff.
The court case started in 2018, when IBM fired tens of thousands of workers over 40 years old, prompting a lawsuit from former employees.
One unnamed high-ranking executive wrote in a revealed email that IBM had a “dated maternal workforce,” and claimed it must change. “They really don’t understand social or engagement. Not digital natives. A real threat for us,” the message continued.
The trove of previously sealed documents also saw older worked dubbed “dinobabies,” while plans to make them “extinct” were also discussed.
The email exchanges are “highly incriminating” and reflect “age animus from IBM’s highest ranks,” wrote Shannon Liss-Riordan, an employment lawyer for the plaintiff. She is seeking class-action status for some of the claims.
IBM spokesman Adam Pratt defended his company’s employment practices as news of the filings became public. “IBM never engaged in systemic age discrimination,” he said, adding: “Employees were separated because of shifts in business conditions and demand for certain skills, not because of their age.”
Attempting to dismiss the allegations of ageism, Pratt noted that IBM hired more than 10,000 people over 50 in the United States from 2010 to 2020. He said the median age of the workforce in 2020 was 48, the same as in 2010.
“Some language in emails between former IBM executives that has been reported is not consistent with the respect IBM has for its employees,” IBM said in a statement.