Do you have any idea how long I have waited for the chance to use the term “meatheads” in the title of an article? Thanks to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, I now have that opportunity.

Meathead Movers is a moving company based in San Luis Obispo, California. In most cases, the EEOC investigates employers after an individual has contacted the agency and complained about the employer. In 2017, the EEOC took the unusual step of investigating Meathead Movers on its own without first receiving a complaint. This fall, the EEOC sued the company and accused Meathead Movers of discriminatory hiring based upon age. The agency’s approach in the lawsuit is new and creative.

The EEOC claims Meathead Movers has a pattern and practice of recruiting and hiring young college students and discouraging older applicants. In support of its accusation, the EEOC points to the company’s website and social media which:

• Describe their workforce as “student athlete movers” and “strong, clean-cut athletes”;
• Show young employees flexing their muscles and working out; and
• Noting that employees are required to jog from the moving truck to the home and back when not carrying furniture or boxes.

Employees compete in the Meathead Olympics, where workers assemble and jump over moving boxes. The company sponsors the Meathead Movers Invitational, a wrestling tournament. Take a look at the employer’s website: meatheadmovers.com

Meathead Movers’ hiring practices are also under attack. The EEOC claims that the company focuses its recruiting efforts on local gyms and colleges. According to the EEOC, their job application asks candidates about their “class schedules.”

Taken together, the EEOC asserts all this is designed to attract younger applicants and discourage older candidates from even filling out a Meathead Mover’s application. Its self-initiated investigation and this lawsuit reflect the EEOC’s more aggressive approach to enforcing employment discrimination laws that we should expect in the future.