Prestigious NYC Diamond Grader Faces Ageism Lawsuits

NEW YORK CITY — Diamonds are forever, but not employment for older workers at a prestigious New York City diamond grader, according to new lawsuits.

Four former employees at the International Gemological Institute contend they were fired because of their ages as the company's president sought to hire younger staff, lawsuits filed Monday state.

Managers told the employees — ages 50, 58, 61 and 63 — as they were fired over four days in February from the institute's Fifth Avenue location in the Diamond District that the terminations were part of a restructuring, the complaints state.

But the lawsuits contend the workers were fired as part of a wider purge of older staff that began in 2020, when one of those employees was told "you must retire."

"IGI’s age-motivated termination of Plaintiff and three other older employees is the latest in a series of IGI’s ageist employee terminations," the lawsuits state.

IGI representatives didn't return a call for comment as of publication, nor did the workers' attorney.

The organization bills itself as the world's largest independent lab for testing and grading diamonds. The Diamond District location is among 29 labs and 18 schools in 10 countries, according to the group's site.

The three age discrimination lawsuits filed Monday are from long-standing employees who contend the company underwent a change since a new president took over five years ago.

"(He) began a pattern and practice of hiring young people, requested that older IGI employees teach them, and then ultimately replaced the older personnel with the newly hired younger personnel," a lawsuit states.

The lawsuits accuse the International Gemological Institute of violating the state's human rights law and seek unspecified damages to be determined at trial.