Benefits December 13, 2002

Friday 13th Unlucky After All?

December 13, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Women are 63% more likely die in traffic accidents on a Friday the 13th than other Fridays during a month, according to new research.
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Finnish researcher Dr Simo Nayha of the University of Oulu in Finland believes this is the case, after conducting an analysis of traffic fatalities in Finland; revealing women are more likely to die from traffic accidents on a Friday the 13 th than any other Friday, according to a Reuters report.

Oddly the same pattern was not detected in men; who are no more likely to die on a Friday the 13 th than any other Friday in the month.

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However, Dr. Stuart Vyse of Connecticut College in New London does not believe the traffic deaths have anything to do with Friday the 13 th being unlucky, but more in the belief that it is unlucky.

He says the increase in traffic deaths among women on the supposed bad-luck day “is a clear negative effect of having been taught these kinds of superstitions,” Vyse said. “And here, it looks like it can kill you, if this is true.”

To support his claim, Vyse points to previous studies that show women are more superstitious than men.   Vyse said this superstition of Friday the 13 th being unlucky could lead to a higher level of anxiety and thus, more chance of distractions while driving.

When argued that Friday the 13 th may just be unlucky, Vyse said he would expect to see the same traffic death increase in men, which the research does not support.

But Nayha said while the increased anxiety hypothesis proposed by Vyse may be true, the study did not measure if people felt more anxious on a Friday the 13 th and with that, he does not believe the study proves the increase in women traffic fatalities is directly related to perception of Friday the 13 th being unlucky.

Compliance December 12, 2002

Federal Judge Approves Consent Decree Against Gulfstream

December 12, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A federal district judge has preliminarily approved a Consent Decree, awarding $2.1 million to 61 former employees who lost their jobs during layoffs at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, according to an announcement by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today.
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The Consent Decree, filed concurrently with a federal lawsuit by the EEOC, provides management training, reporting and posting by Gulfstream for the former employees, in addition to the monetary award.

“Companies that lay off older more experienced workers in order to retain younger, less senior individuals are violating the law and running the risk of being sued for discrimination,” said S Robert Royal, Regional Attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “These lawsuits can result in sizeable monetary awards against companies and damage their reputations. To its credit, Gulfstream has worked cooperatively with the EEOC in arriving at a Consent Decree that provides significant monetary and affirmative relief to the victims without the need for protracted litigation.”

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In the filings, the EEOC alleged Gulfstream committed a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), by targeting employees over the age of 40 for layoffs occurring between August 2000 and December 2000.

To provide evidence of this, the EEOC presented statistical findings showing a disparity in number of older to younger workers that were laid off.   Additionally, the EEOC had specific instances in which an older more senior worker was laid off in favor of a younger, less experience worker in the same position.   Gulfstream denied that it engaged in any discrimination based on age with the layoffs.

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