TASTE FOR BLOOD
Workers claim Bain firings tied to age, salary
Bain Capital bagged a fortune as it fired workers at an Oregon-based software company.
Now, federal authorities are allegedly probing whether it also broke the law.
The buyout firm cofounded by Mitt Romney is being investigated by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over allegations that it illegally fired workers based on their age and medical condition as it sought to maximize profits, sources told The Post.
Last week, Bain announced the sale of Portland, Ore.based Viewpoint Construction Software to its larger competitor Trimble for $1.2 billion. Bain will reap a $550 million profit on the deal after investing just $300 million in cash to acquire it in 2015 and saddling it with roughly $330 million in debt, sources said.
Meanwhile, the EEOC has received roughly 20 separate complaints about illegal firings at Viewpoint, according to Jan Sadlowski, a former human resources manager at the company.
The flaggings sparked an investigation by the agency, which most recently interviewed an ex-Viewpoint employee last week, she said.
A source close to Bain said the firm is only aware of nine Viewpoint-related complaints. An EEOC spokeswoman said all charges and investigations are strictly confidential.
In August 2015, Bain hired Manolis Kotzabasakis to replace founder Jay Haladay as the company’s chairman and chief executive. Soon after, the new CEO and his new head of HR, Joanna Nikka, set a target to cut 182 of the 760 employees then working at the company, Sadlowski said.
They then allegedly asked the HRstaff to create a spreadsheet that listed all workers who either were making more than $125,000 a year or who were more than 40 years old. While it’s legal to fire people because their salaries are high, age bias is against the law.
The execs likewise wanted lists of employees getting benefits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA), all of which guarantee leave with no threat of job loss, according to multiple sources.
Evidence surfaced in the May 2017 court deposition of Jennifer Yruegas, Viewpoint’s former vice president of human resources, who testified in litigation over another executive’s departure that she was pressured by the new chief executive to compile the spreadsheet ahead of a bloodbath.
Kotzabasakis told Yruegas, “I think you should create the spreadsheet,” Yruegas told lawyers.
Viewpoint fired Sadlowski in 2016 shortly after she complained to the Viewpoint Board, including Bain Capital Managing Director David Humphrey, she alleges. The Post has reviewed her letter.
Bain declined to comment, while Kotzabasakis and Nikka couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Viewpoint said in a statement it hired an independent firm to review the complaints, and that its report found no evidence of bias.
“We unequivocally deny wrongdoing in this matter, and continue to celebrate our commitment to a diverse, engaged workforce,” the company said in a statement.