Allstate Insurance Company may have discriminated against sales agents over 40 years of age when Allstate restructured its sales force.

Investigation and pending age discrimination class action lawsuit against Allstate Insurance Company on behalf of 6200 long time Allstate employees 90% of whom are over the age of 40. "
In 1991, Allstate implemented a restructuring called, the "Preparing for the Future Group Reorganization Program" (the "Program"), which had the effect to force approximately 6,200 long-time insurance employee sales agents, over 90% of whom were age 40 or older, either to become so-called "independent contractors" or leave the company.

As Allstate intended, the Program resulted in all of these 6,200 agents losing the ability to accrue or enjoy any employee benefits whether or not they converted to "independent contractor" status, and in the mass departure of older employee agents.

In implementing the Program, Allstate may have violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and its contractual and fiduciary duties.

The linchpin of the Program was a standardized General Release and Waiver Agreement (the "Release") by which Allstate sought to insulate itself from all liability. That Release is void or voidable for many reasons. It failed to meet the threshold requirements of the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act. More fundamentally, the crippling losses that employee agents would suffer if they did not sign the Release, and the many misrepresentations Allstate made about their rights, meant that the Release was not executed knowingly or voluritarily, was unconscionable, and was part and parcel of an ilegal scheme to violate federal law.