At age 53, John Montagne, a Denver-based regional manager for the Hershey Co. was at the top of his career, earning $188,000 a year in salary and benefits. Then, in June of 2003, Hershey management told Montagne that the company was restructuring and they no longer had a place for him. Montagne reluctantly took the early retirement package they offered. Now, Montagne claims he and other senior managers were forced to leave based on their age and as a part of a Hershey strategy to replace older workers with younger ones. He sued, claiming that Hershey violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

On January 18, seven other former Hershey employees joined the suit. Class-action status for the suit was denied, however, which would have included up to 44 more former Hershey employees

Hershey denies the age-discrimination claim, saying that Montagne left because his position was eliminated during restructuring.

Age-discrimination suits filed with the federal government have risen 26% since 1999, with 17,837 cases filed in 2004. Payments made in these cases in 2004 totaled $69 million. Those figures don't include settlements reached in private litigation, where the median jury award in age-discrimination cases between 1996 and 2002 was $266,800.

Age-discrimination filings could increase as baby boomers age. By 2015, workers aged 55 and older are expected to make up 20% of the workforce.

In the Hershey case, the former employees allege that Hershey officials gave them no option to stay or offered them lower-paying jobs, forcing them to leave. The age-discrimination law, which protects those 40 and older, says that early-retirement plans must be voluntary. Company executives also allegedly referred to older salespeople as "slot-blockers,' "endangered species," and "liabilities," and replaced them with younger salespeople after they left.

Montagne's attorneys estimate damages at about $470,000, with the total damages for the case coming in at $3.8 million.