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Edition : 2541 Tuesday 24-Mar-1992 Circulation : 8182
VNS COMPUTER NEWS: [Tracy Talcott, VNS Computer Desk]
================== [Nashua, NH, USA ]
Digital, Eastman Kodak - Sued for $5 million each over outsourcing
{The Wall Street Journal, 23-Mar-92, p. B6B}
The companies have been sued by 11 former Kodak employees who charged that
Kodak unfairly pressured them into working for Digital, which allegedly lies
to them about its benefit plan. The suit, files in U.S. District Court in
Rochester, N.Y., seeks $5 million in punitive damages from each company.
Both companies said they can't comment on pending litigation. The employees,
aged 44 to 64, allege that Kodak discriminated against older workers by
cutting off other career opportunities so they were forced to accept jobs at
Digital, which performs telecommunications contract work for Kodak under an
alliance called Telstar. About 250 workers became Telstar workers in February
1990, according to Rochester lawyer Donna Marianetti, who filed the suit Feb.
25. Ms. Marianetti has other age-discrimination suits pending against Kodak.
The move was part of Kodak's highly applauded "outsourcing" strategy, which
saves Kodak the cost of benefits by farming work out to contractors. The
lawsuit alleges that Kodak's plan is to use outsourcing to reduce its
Rochester payroll to about 18,000 employees from the current 39,600. The
plaintiffs charge that Digital misled them by telling them they would keep
their same jobs and titles at Digital, while getting at least comparable
benefits. But instead, the employees lost job responsibilities and Digital
told them it's dissatisfied with the Telstar alliance, so the employees'
future is unclear, according to the suit. Meanwhile, Kodak improved its
retirement benefits. The suit alleges that Kodak knew it would improve its
retirement packages when its workers moved to Digital, but didn't tell them.
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