Goodyear to stop labeling 10% of its workers as worst
Faced with an American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) supported lawsuit alleging that its 10/80/10 system for classing employees into best, middle and worst categories assigns a disproportionate number of older employees to the lowest category, the Goodyear tire company announced yesterday that it will discontinue the system. Although the company has insisted that the discontinuation has nothing to do with the lawsuit, the Ford Motor Company discontinued its so-called ABC rating system last year and paid $10.6 million to settle a similar lawsuit that was also supported by the AARP, and was filed by the same law firm and representing the plaintiffs in the Goodyear case. Once touted as an effective means of eliminating under performers and improving productivity, ABC rating schemes have come under increasing fire, and few corporations aside from as yet un-sued General Electric remain outspoken advocates of the systems.
See "Goodyear to stop labeling 10% of its workers as worst", DEL JONES, USA Today, September 11, 2002