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About the Case

Learn specifics about the case including updates on where the case is in the litigation process. If you have questions about where you might fit in the case or if you want to help, please visit our CONTACT US page.

On August 1, 2001, 29 former employee agents of Allstate Insurance Company filed this lawsuit in the federal district court in Philadelphia.  The best way to understand the case is to read the Second Amended Complaint.

The Second Amended Complaint claims that Allstate Insurance Company and its related defendants violated the rights of the plaintiffs and over 6,200 other employee agents when Allstate terminated its employment contracts with them in 2000.  Plaintiffs claim:

• The Release that most agents signed is invalid for many reasons, including that agents did not execute it knowingly and voluntarily, that it was unconscionable, that it was “part and parcel” of an illegal scheme to terminate their employment contracts, that Allstate retaliated against the agents and that Allstate violated several provisions of the Older Worker Benefits Protection Act;

   

• Allstate violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) when it (a) terminated the employment contracts in order to deprive agents of the right to accrue additional benefits, and (b) refused to allow terminated agents to obtain re-employment with Allstate for at least a year;
• Allstate violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) when it terminated the employment contracts because of its beliefs that older agents (over 90% of the terminated agents were at least 40 years old) were less productive; and
• Allstate violated its contractual and fiduciary obligations to its agents when it terminated their employment contracts in violation of the contractual language, Allstate’s manuals and practices, and the relationship between the parties.

In June 2007, the district court dismissed all of plaintiffs’ claims. To obtain more understanding of the events leading up to dismissal, you may read the Case Updates (our discussion of events in the case) or the Pleadings (the papers filed in the case and the orders of the Court).

On July 29, 2009, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the decision of the district court. It held that we had not been given an adequate chance to conduct discovery, sent the case back to the district court, and told the district court to reassign the case to another judge.

The case has now been assigned to the Honorable Ronald Buckwalter. He has decided to focus the litigation for now on the validity of the release. To the extent that the release is invalidated, the plaintiffs will be allowed to attempt to prove that the termination of their employment contracts was invalid, and if a class action is approved, to do so on behalf of all 6200 former employee agents. If the release is valid, the case will proceed only on behalf of those agents who did not sign it.

For further information on the proceedings before Judge Buckwalter, please read the Updates and Pleadings pages.

In December 2001, the plaintiffs and several other former Allstate employee agents filed a second class action lawsuit, arising from Allstate’s alleged violations of ERISA with respect to early retirement benefits under the agents’ pension plan. It also is pending before Judge Buckwalter. For information about that lawsuit, see www.allstatepensionsuit.com.

Also in December 2001, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Allstate Insurance Company claiming that Allstate violated the ADEA and other federal employment laws by retaliating against agents who refused to sign the release and by threatening retaliation against the other agents. That lawsuit has been consolidated with the lawsuit filed on August 1, 2001, and also is currently before Judge Buckwalter. There is no separate website regarding that lawsuit, but new about the lawsuit can be found on various pages on this site.

This website was created by Sprenger + Lang, PLLC, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, and AARP Foundation Litigation, the lawyers for the plaintiffs and the members of the proposed class, to provide information about the lawsuit.