Taco Bell Franchisee Dismisses Oldest Store Manager

A 64 year old store manager for a Taco Bell in Minnesota owned by Borders, Inc. was fired after a strong 30 year career according to the StarTribune.com. She had, like many, planned on working till 70 because of the rising cost of living and health care. Despite non-discrimination laws, older workers find it almost impossible to recover their wages after being dismissed through layoffs or other forms of “downsizing”. In addition to feeling discriminated against in the hiring process, this senior definitely feels discriminated against in the firing process. Her base salary was $45,000 and, quite frankly, it’s well known that big companies prefer to hire “young, dumb and cheap” workers many times instead of keeping “older, experienced and well paid” workers.

Shilson rose rapidly, working 60-hour weeks and becoming general manager at the W. 7th Street store and, later, at the Richfield Taco Bell. She was robbed at gunpoint twice, including the time she was shot while opening the W. 7th restaurant one morning in 1998.

[Despite "Superior" ratings t]his summer, company supervisors put her on notice, criticizing her performance. She says company cost-cutting and the loss of experienced staff left her without resources to fix the problems.