Texas Roadhouse rejects over-40 job applicants as 'Old 'N Chubby' (lawsuit)

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I never thought of Texas Roadhouse as the place where all the beautiful people worked. But a federal district court jury in Boston is considering a lawsuit that accuses the Louisville, Ky.-based company of engaging in a "pattern and practice" of discriminating against older job applicants since 2007, according to a report by ProPublica.

ProPublica says the suit is the largest age discrimination case the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has brought to trial in more than three decades. The suit arises from the EEOC's own investigations, rather than waiting for individuals to submit complaints.

The defense not only argues the discrimination charges against the company are wrong, but that EEOC has no authority under the law to bring systemic cases.

Among the evidence the agency has presented, according to the news site: job applications from 38 restaurants in 20 states, on which company officials posted yellow stickers with comments. Besides "Old "N Chubby" they included "OLD," "little older lady," and "middle age ... Doesn't really fit our image."

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Also included: statistics showing that, of the almost 200,000 people Texas Roadhouse hired over the years for so-called front-of-the-house jobs, fewer than 3,000 were over 40 -- a disparity so great the government's expert witness estimated the odds of it happening absent discrimination at one in 781 billion.

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