A group of former IBM employees filed a lawsuit accusing IBM of violating federal laws prohibiting workplace age discrimination: the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The lawsuit alleges that in 2014 IBM ended its practice of providing laid-off workers with age-specific, demographic information about the layoff selections, as required by the OWBPA. The lawsuit also alleges that IBM improperly requires laid-off workers to waive their rights under the ADEA to file discrimination claims collectively in a court of law, and that IBM manipulates the performance review process by directing the downgrading of annual performance ratings for workers age 40 and older, which are then used to justify the layoffs.