Target says it’s not into saving on salaries by demoting and laying off longtime workers, but the Tucson Weekly reports a bunch of fired longtime Target employees believe the company discriminated against them because of their ages, among other reasons.

From the Tucson Weekly story, in which the former employees say Target’s upper management took a year to fling baseless accusations at the workers in an effort to drum up reasons to let them go:

(Manny) Lovio says he went to see a lawyer, but realized he could not afford legal action. But shortly after his dismissal, his best friend at the company, Lavonne Beckford, was also fired. And over the last five years, other longtime employees he knew from his early days at Target were also forced to quit or were fired. The former co-workers started meeting with each other and sharing their stories.

They say they began to notice a pattern. Their group, mostly hired in the ’80s, had each been with the retail company for 20 years or more. Most of them were salaried executives, making more than $50,000 a year, sometimes even more. Besides the wages, the employees had full benefits, and most were eligible for up to five weeks of vacation.

“They could hire two or three people at the price they were paying us,” (Manny) Lovio says.

Attention current and former Target Team Members — do you believe there is merit to such complaints, or is it just sour grapes?

Getting the Ax: Longtime Tucson Target employees say they were forced out because of their higher salaries [Tucson Weekly]

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