HOUSTON — A former Hess employee claims the company has a pattern of replacing its older workers with younger counterparts.
Christopher Van Brummen filed a complaint Nov. 23 in Harris County District Court against Hess Corporation alleging age discrimination and retaliation.
According to his complaint, Van Brummen began working for Hess in 2014 as director of exploration for Guyana and that he had "nearly perfect" work evaluations throughout his employment with Hess. He alleges that he faced discrimination, bullying and harassment from his female supervisor whom he claims "belittled" him, "engaged in a witch hunt" and set out to make his "professional life miserable."
Brummen specifically alleges that his supervisor gave him a "job demotion with no responsibilities" with a "goal of" forcing him to terminate his employment. He further alleges that between August 2019 and December of 2019, he reported the discrimination and was then accused of sexual harassment, terminated and replaced with a new hire that was "significantly younger and less qualified." Brummen claims he suffered loss of pay and health benefits and was offered no severance.
Brummen seeks monetary relief of more than $100,000 and all other just relief. He is represented by Charlie Henke and Kathleen Boll of Henke, Williams & Boll LLP in Houston.
Harris County District Court case number 2020-75317