Raytheon discriminated against older workers, new lawsuit says

RTX Corp., formerly known as Raytheon, was hit with a discrimination lawsuit over job postings looking for recent college graduates.

The aerospace giant allegedly discriminated against older candidates by denoting positions as being exclusively for recent or soon-to-be graduates, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts district court Tuesday.

Mark Goldstein, the 67-year-old behind the proposed class-action lawsuit, said in the suit that RTX rejected his applications to seven “recent graduate positions” since 2019, despite meeting all the qualifications — save for the fact that he was not a recent college graduate and did not have less than 12 or 24 months of related work experience at the time of his application.

The lawsuit claims that RTX, the world’s largest aerospace and defense company, is aware that a “vast majority” of recent graduates are under 40 years old, and most often are in their 20s.

According to the lawsuit, Goldstein “has approximately 40 years of experience in project management, cybersecurity, technology, risk management, security engineering, sales, marketing, engineering, business, and consulting.”

The hiring practice “intentionally and effectively excludes nearly all older workers from qualifying for, competing for, and obtaining many jobs at Raytheon,” the lawsuit claimed.

A spokesperson for RTX said in a statement that the company complies with all relevant age discrimination laws and is committed to maintaining a diverse workforce.

“We believe these claims are entirely without merit and we will actively defend our hiring practices,” the RTX spokesperson said.

RTX reserves “many positions” at the company exclusively for recent college graduates, meaning applicants who have graduated in the 12 to 24 months prior or those who have a college degree and less than 12 or 24 months of relevant work experience, according to the suit. This “unlawfully indicates a preference for younger workers and discrimination against older workers and deters older workers from applying,” the lawsuit alleges.

Following a 2019 complaint by Goldstein with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), an investigation concluded that Goldstein was not being considered for the recent graduate positions because of his age. Goldstein filed a second discrimination charge with the EEOC last year.