A 25-year engineer says the automaker built its new system to push him out
A 25-year General Motors engineer says he was fired so the automaker could hit a 10% annual attrition target - and settle a years-old grudge.
Shujat Khan filed a federal lawsuit against General Motors on May 6, 2026 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleging age discrimination, race-based retaliation, and a performance management system designed to push older engineers out.
The complaint brings six counts. Two are age claims under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, two more under Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, and two retaliation claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and ELCRA. The age claims include both disparate treatment and disparate impact theories.
Khan was hired in February 2001 as a Supplier Quality Engineer and worked his way up to Senior Performance Engineer in Recall Safety, the filing says. The complaint says his reviews stayed at "meets" or "exceeds expectations" for most of his career, and he received his most recent merit raise in April 2024.
Trouble started in 2018, the complaint alleges. Khan says his manager, Field Action Execution Manager Daniel Stec, sent him images of a "monkey humping a football" in reference to Khan and other employees of color, and used a racial slur when discussing a Black GM employee. Khan says he objected directly, then escalated to HR.
What followed, according to the filing, was a pattern...
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