A 30-year employee with a top performance review says the company forced her out for being too old
A former AT&T director is alleging the company used its return-to-office mandate to systematically push out older managers.
Lorraine Lopez worked at AT&T for roughly 30 years. She earned an "Exceeds" on her most recent performance review. She was 58 when the company terminated her in July 2024 — and she says her age is the reason why.
In a lawsuit filed on April 2 in federal court in New Jersey (Lopez v. AT&T, Inc. et al., Case No. 3:26-cv-03561), Lopez accuses AT&T and its CEO, John Stankey, of using the company's workplace consolidation program — branded as the "How and Where We Work" initiative — as a vehicle to eliminate older employees while giving preferential treatment to younger ones.
The allegations paint a troubling picture for anyone in human resources. According to the filing, Stankey told employees during a July 2023 company-wide Town Hall that AT&T "needed younger people working at this company" and described the restructuring as an opportunity to "say goodbye" to experienced workers and "build the next generation." Months later, at an open-mic event in New Jersey, he allegedly referred to himself as "an old guy" with "a lot of gray hair" who was "not going to work much longer," while telling younger employees in the room they "look wonderful."
What makes this case especially relevant for HR leaders is what allegedly did not happen next....
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