Her position was "eliminated" - then reposted under a different title within the week
A federal lawsuit alleges KCG Management fired its HR manager shortly after she requested FMLA leave and flagged age discrimination.
The complaint, filed on November 5 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, claims the Indianapolis-based company terminated the worker after she told her supervisor she intended to take Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave for a medical procedure.
The worker was 67 at the time. She had been with the company since November 2021.
She started as an HR generalist when KCG had no internal HR department, according to the complaint, and was promoted to HR manager as the company grew from roughly 25 employees to more than 130.
Her mid-year performance review in August 2024 rated her 2.83 out of 3.00 overall, the filing states. She scored a perfect 3.00 in five of six competencies. The reviewer - KCG's executive vice president of human resources - described her as "a hardworking and energetic HR Manager who performs her core duties well," "a valued member of the team," and "an excellent person for me to turn to when something needs to get done."
The review made no mention of any risk to her position.
"You've been working for centuries"
The complaint alleges a pattern of age-related remarks from KCG executives stretching back years.
When the worker asked about receiving a bonus after a company-wide freeze on bonuses and raises in late 2022, a senior executive told her, "you need to negotiate better, plus at your age, you don't need the money," according to the filing. On a separate occasion, the filing states, the same executive told her, "You've probably got enough money since you've been working for centuries."
That executive frequently made "old school" and "old guard" comments about the worker, often in front of others, and asked when she planned to retire, the complaint states.
When KCG decided to hire an EVP-HR from outside the company in early 2023 - despite the worker having performed the company's HR leadership duties - two executives told her KCG was "looking for someone to stick around for 10-15 years and you should be retiring soon," according to the filing.
The worker alleges she complained to KCG's president about those comments and told him they had influenced the hiring decision. According to the complaint, he responded: "I'll wait until [the EVP-HR] gets here and we'll deal with it."
Then came the FMLA request
In late October 2024, the worker told the EVP-HR she intended to take FMLA leave for a medical procedure related to a prior car accident, the complaint states. She asked about scheduling her leave around the EVP-HR's planned vacation.
KCG never provided her with notice of her FMLA eligibility or her rights under the statute, according to the filing.
Around the same time, the worker raised concerns with the EVP-HR after other employees filed suit against KCG alleging, among other things, age discrimination. According to the complaint, she told the EVP-HR that the conduct at issue "was weakening the company, unfair to employees, illegal, and costing unnecessary expenses." The EVP-HR allegedly responded: "it is the cost of doing business."
The complaint also alleges the worker is a witness in EEOC charges of discrimination filed against KCG by those employees.
Fired - then the job reappeared
On November 5, 2024, the EVP-HR and KCG's president told the worker her position was being eliminated and her employment was terminated, according to the filing. When she asked whether her performance was the reason, she was told it was not.
That explanation did not hold up long, the complaint alleges.
Less than a week after her termination, KCG posted the position on job boards under a different title, according to the filing. Many of the worker's duties were reassigned to other employees, including newly hired staff, and KCG later hired a director of human resources operations who was "substantially younger" than the worker, the complaint states.
The filing also alleges KCG did not offer her severance under its written policy - even though the company had provided severance to other departing employees, including some let go for poor performance.
KCG has asserted, according to the filing, that it eliminated the position as part of a restructuring because the company's needs had "outgrown her abilities." The complaint alleges that stated reason was a pretext - that the real reasons were her age, her FMLA request, and her internal complaints about discrimination.
The lawsuit brings four claims: interference with FMLA rights, retaliation for requesting FMLA leave, age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and retaliation for opposing age discrimination. The complaint alleges all violations were willful.
The worker seeks back pay, reinstatement or front pay, liquidated damages, lost benefits, interest, attorneys' fees, and costs. She has requested injunctive relief and a jury trial.
She filed an EEOC charge against KCG on April 16, 2025, alleging age discrimination and retaliation.
For HR leaders, the timeline alone is instructive: a near-perfect review in August, an FMLA request in late October, a termination in early November, and the same role reposted within the week.
None of the allegations in the complaint have been tested, and no court has made any findings on the merits of the claims.
