Wyeth wants to pursue claims against retiree
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- August
- 4
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. wants a federal judge to allow it to pursue its claims that a former employee lied in order to get the company to provide her with a retirement benefits package in 2005.
The company is asking U.S. District Court Judge William C. Conner to deny a motion by retiree Daisy Early to have the Wyeth claims thrown out of court.
Early, who worked for the company as a packaging and biological operator for 29 years, is one of seven current and former black employees of Wyeth’s Pearl River operations who sued the company for alleged racial discrimination.
The company countered her lawsuit by alleging that she made it clear at the time of her retirement that she was retiring “voluntarily†and “without coercion.†But the company noted that she now claims she retired because Wyeth forced her out of the job by discriminating against her.
The company has asked the court to order Early to return certain retirement benefits she received.
Early, 57, and her lawyer, Steven Morelli, asked the court last month to dismiss the company’s claims.
But in papers filed last week, Wyeth’s lawyers said it has produced enough evidence to show that Early “may well have fraudulently induced Wyeth into pay her severance benefits.â€
The company said Early worked through September 2005. But the company said it did not officially terminate her employment until Oct. 7, 2005 because she wanted to remain on the payroll through her 55th birthday on Oct. 4 so that she would not have a lapse in medical coverage.
Morelli could not be reached for comment.
This entry was posted
on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 12:56 pm by Allan Drury.
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