ALLSTATE NAMED IN FEDERAL DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed an age-discrimination lawsuit against Illinois-based insurer Allstate in connection with the company’s 1999 restructuring, as a result of which 6,400 employee agents were made freelance contractors. The EEOC filed its action four months after the agents themselves filed a class-action lawsuit against the company. Plaintiffs in that private action are now seeking to consolidate their lawsuit with that of the EEOC. Allstate said that it disagreed “wholeheartedly” with the EEOC case and would “vigorously defend” the case.