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<http://wsj.com>
A Moving Company Touts Its Young, Chiseled Workers. Feds Say That's Age Discrimination.
Austen Hufford

A moving company shows off the clean-cut, chiseled student athletes who
pump iron before loading your furniture. The federal government says
that's a problem.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Fresno, Calif.-based
Meathead Movers this year for violating age-discrimination law by not
hiring enough older workers. Employment attorneys and trade groups say the
case will offer clues as to how the agency will approach
antidiscrimination laws now that President Biden's picks are installed.

Commissioners voted seven times on age-discrimination matters since
Democrats gained control in August, compared with three age-related
matters earlier in the year. EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows, whom Biden
elevated, has said she would vigorously enforce age-discrimination laws as older workers regularly face age bias, stereotypes and discrimination.

The focus on age discrimination comes as America's workforce is getting
older. Nearly a quarter of U.S. workers are 55 and older, and the Labor Department estimates that the number of people 65 and older in the labor
force will grow by a third over the next decade.

"They are very interested in bringing aggressive enforcement actions,"
Andrew Maunz said of the EEOC. He was the agency's legal counsel during
the Trump administration.
Pump iron, lift furniture

Some Meathead Movers' trucks are stamped with the moniker "student athlete movers." Youthful-looking employees pump iron before grabbing furniture, according to a recent social-media advertisement.

Employees compete in the Meathead Olympics in which they compete to
assemble and leap over boxes. Numerous corporate Facebook posts show
workers flexing with biceps bulging. Employees, dubbed "Meatheads," must
jog from truck to house when not carrying furniture. The Meathead Movers Invitational is a company-sponsored wrestling tournament.

Meathead Movers executives say that the company is providing good jobs and quality services to the community and that it isn't discriminating against anyone-older workers just don't want to carry chests downstairs.

"We are 100% open to hiring anyone at any age if they can do the job,"
said company owner Aaron Steed. "People love working at Meathead, or they
are turned off by how hard it is. You have to move furniture and run to
get more."

Many of the EEOC's allegations against Meathead focus on marketing and
hiring practices that could discourage older workers from applying.
Current employees are asked to scour local gyms, colleges and places where
they would hang out normally for new hires, according to the EEOC.

Discouragement bias can be present in job ads, marketing materials and job application questions, such as asking about a student's class schedule,
the agency said.

"Word-of-mouth is never a good way to recruit," said Nicole St. Germain, a spokeswoman for the EEOC.

The investigation into Meathead Movers was started in 2017 by the EEOC
itself and not by a complaint. The agency typically investigates companies after someone files a complaint. It received more than 70,000 complaints
in its latest year and filed 91 employment-discrimination lawsuits.

The agency and the company tried to negotiate a settlement. The agency initially wanted around $15 million and then lowered that to around $5
million, according to an email from a Meathead representative to
commissioners that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Meathead
offered $750,000 to settle. Meathead and the EEOC declined to comment on
the details of the negotiations.

In September, the agency filed the lawsuit.

"We had no idea we were doing anything wrong by being a moving company
that hires a lot of student athletes," Steed said. "We want to change and evolve, but we can't agree to go out of business doing it."
Who could be a good mover?

The country's employment law enforcer is working to put its stamp on civil-rights law. The lawsuit against this moving company shows how the
agency is taking a more aggressive approach to how it enforces certain
federal laws, labor lawyers said.

In September, the agency also sued the Florida branch of Enterprise
Rent-A-Car for allegedly not hiring enough older workers to its management-training program. Enterprise said the allegations are
meritless.

Advocates for older Americans applaud the EEOC's focus.

"Dwayne ‘The Rock' Johnson is over 50. I'm pretty sure he would be good at moving boxes," said Bill Alvarado Rivera, senior vice president for
litigation at AARP, an association for the rights of older people. "That
kind of stereotype about who could be a good mover has no place in an
economy that values individuals."

Others disagreed, saying that antidiscrimination lawsuits could hurt the
types of workers they are trying to protect. Walter Olson, a senior fellow
at the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, said age-related lawsuits
could make companies less likely to hire older workers because they are a liability risk.

"It is the most counterproductive of all the major areas of discrimination law," he said. "It makes them less employable late in their careers
because they are known as litigation dangers."

The EEOC's focus on age cases could impact a broader segment of American businesses that recruit recent college graduates and could even threaten early-career training programs. "A lot of jobs are just naturally held by
young people," Olson said. "Early-career trainings are hard to square with
the EEOC's view."
‘We charge by the hour'

The case could have direct implications for other companies that hire
young people and college students to transport everything from IKEA
furniture to pianos. Collin Flynn, the founder of Iowa-based UniMovers,
said students make great employees with schedules that fit with what the industry needs. The job is also physically taxing, and customers think
students are more likely to work faster.

"They know they are going to get young people with strong backs, and they
are going to be moving quick," he said. "We charge by the hour."

Another moving company with a similar setup to Meathead Movers is trying
to recast its image. College Hunks Hauling Junk says "Hunks" stands for "Honest. Uniformed. Nice. Knowledgeable. Service."

"Regarding the brand name of College HUNKS, it has nothing to do with
targeting a college audience," the company said.

Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com



--
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