Filing claims neither HR professional assessed if the overseas firing complied with US law
A 64-year-old lab manager says she was fired after her employer's U.S.-based HR team failed to question a termination order from overseas.
Jana Mekhhal, who holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, is suing Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc. for age discrimination, alleging that the global paints and coatings company pushed her out of her role as Development and Solutions Lab Manager Americas at its Reading, Pennsylvania facility in December 2023 — not because of her performance, but because of her age.
The case, filed February 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, puts the spotlight on a scenario that will feel uncomfortably familiar to many HR leaders: what happens when a manager based abroad decides to fire an American employee, and the local HR team simply goes along with it?
According to the filing, Mekhhal's supervisor, Frank Vergeer, a Technical Director based in Amsterdam, told her during a routine virtual check-in that she was being let go because she lacked the "leadership and continuous improvement skills" needed for the company's next industry transformation. In the same conversation, he praised the performance of her team.
Mekhhal alleges there was no warning. No performance issues flagged in her October or November check-ins. No written concerns. She says she had met or exceeded expectations throughout her time at Akzo Nobel, where she had worked since October 2020, and that she was well-regarded by her colleagues.
The filing zeroes in on two HR professionals — Deborah Hotard, an HR Manager in Nashville, and Ronald Tomko, an HR Business Partner in Pennsylvania — alleging that neither one independently assessed whether the termination had a legitimate basis or complied with U.S. law. Tomko, according to the filing, told Mekhhal he had not known about the decision beforehand and had only been asked to be on site to make sure everything was under control.
There were also earlier red flags, Mekhhal alleges. In August 2022, Vergeer asked how long she planned to keep working. In July 2023, a younger colleague, Sweccha Joshi, asked her directly when she planned to retire. Joshi, who is described as substantially younger than Mekhhal, later objected to being left out of Mekhhal's succession plan and was added.
After the termination, Akzo Nobel reposted the position — but with the experience requirement cut from ten-plus years to five, and the powder coatings technical requirement removed entirely. In July 2024, the company hired a replacement who, according to the filing, is decades younger and significantly less experienced than Mekhhal.
Mekhhal is seeking damages under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, including liquidated damages for what she describes as a willful violation. She has requested a jury trial. Akzo Nobel has not yet responded, and no determination has been made on the merits.
For HR leaders managing global teams, the case raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: when a termination decision crosses borders, who is responsible for making sure it crosses legal lines nowhere?
