Source: OT-Team(G), Charlotte Observer
A former general counsel who worked for Honeywell in Shanghai sued the company for illegally firing her because she reached China's mandatory retirement age of 55, a law she alleges doesn't apply to foreign workers.
Ji Li was vice president and general counsel for Honeywell's China branch. The company terminated her because she had turned 55, citing a mandatory retirement age in China, according to her suit. However, Li alleged that this rule does not apply to foreign workers and that Honeywell's action violated the U.S. Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
Honeywell is a tech and electronics manufacturing giant. The company denied Li a severance package or financial compensation because of the termination, the suit added. The People's Republic of China did not have laws that denied her from getting a severance package because of her age. Honeywell's China subsidiary hired Li in May 2019 to serve as vice president and general counsel for its Aerospace Division in the Asia Pacific region. Her responsibilities expanded to include corporate operations.
Beyond compliance, Li was also responsible for reviewing and approving business contracts that generated billions of dollars in revenue, the suit claimed.
Based on her performance, recent promotion and expanded role, her employment contract was expected to be renewed, the suit stated.
Her role was even set to expand late last year to oversee business practices across all of Asia, particularly in countries with known regulatory challenges, the suit claimed.
According to court records, her initial contract from May 2019 to May 2022 provided a base salary of more than $358,600, with a total annual compensation exceeding $798,000. After a promotion and a new contract beginning in January 2022 that ran through December 2024, her base salary increased to over $364,000 and total yearly compensation went up to more than $862,000. In late September, just nine days before her 55th birthday, the company's HR department in China informed her that her contract was ending due to the "mandatory" retirement age.
Honeywell offered Li a new, one-year consultant contract, which would've reduced her total compensation by about half, the suit claimed. Li also had believed her existing agreement was valid until the end of 2024.
Honeywell used a "mandatory" Chinese retirement law to justify her firing but did not apply the same rule to other American employees of a different ethnicity, the filing claimed.
Li is a U.S. citizen, the suit said. The lawsuit argues that Honeywell's actions were based on racial and ethnic stereotypes, wrongly treating Li as a Chinese citizen rather than as an American citizen. This interfered with her contract and caused her significant financial and emotional damage, Li claimed.
Li is seeking compensation for back pay, front pay, and lost benefits, including any equity and bonus loss.
"Nothing in China law gives Honeywell an excuse to discriminate on the basis of age," her San Francisco-based attorney, David Lowe, said in a statement to The Charlotte Observer.
More on Honeywell
Honeywell produces aerospace products, building technologies, performance materials and other technologies. It also provides safety and productivity services. The company employs more than 100,000 people worldwide, which includes over 1,000 workers in Charlotte. In 2018, Honeywell announced it would move its global headquarters from New Jersey to Charlotte, in part due to $87 million worth of state and local incentives. In December 2021, Honeywell officially opened its 23-story uptown headquarters on South Mint Street. In February, Honeywell said it was separatting into three publicly traded companies.Those divisions are for automation, aerospace technology and advanced materials.
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