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Meathead Movers settles age discrimination lawsuit

January 6, 2026

By KAREN VELIE

San Luis Obispo-based Meathead Movers agreed to pay up to $6 million to settle a federal lawsuit over its alleged violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The settlement includes up to $2 million for individuals who were not hired into various positions due to age or because of their sex, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), announced last month.

In addition, Meathead Movers agreed to hire qualified individuals as laborers, movers, customer service agents, and other positions, committing up to $1 million annually for four years towards agreeing to hiring aggrieved workers – workers who applied, were otherwise qualified, but for discrimination, were not hired.

“Employers should not make assumptions about a candidate’s ability to do a job simply because of their age or sex and should make sure that their hiring and recruiting practices are based on the individual abilities and not stereotypes,” said Anna Y. Park, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles district. “We commend Meathead Movers for their commitment to hiring older workers and women into positions based on their qualifications.”

Aaron Steed co-founded Meathead Movers with his brother Evan Steed in 1997. Aaron Steed argued against the allegations, saying that Meathead Movers has employed individuals over 40 since its early days. He pointed to a football coach who worked for them even when most of the team were teenagers.

“Can you do the job or not?” has always been their primary focus, Aaron Steed said.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2023 filed a class action suit against the popular moving company for intentionally recruiting and hiring young college students while “excluding older workers regardless of their individual abilities.” Since at least 2017, “Meathead Movers failed to recruit and hire applicants over 40 into moving, packing and customer service positions.”

Meathead Movers also agreed to review its discrimination policies and procedures to include revising its policies to conform with the ADEA and Title VII; review its recruiting and marketing processes; provide training; conduct audits; and report to the EEOC of its efforts to ensure its workforce is open to all workers regardless of age and sex.

The consent decree provides an avenue for individuals who may have been affected by the company’s hiring practices to file a claim. Anyone who feels they were denied a job due to their age (40 or over) or sex, between 2017 to the present, can contact the EEOC at (213) 785-3088 or send an email to meatheadlawsuit@eeoc.gov for more instructions on how to file a claim.

 


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I employed a crew of two young, very fit, strong men from Meathead Movers to move a house full of furnishings sometime back in 2002-03. When I say young, these guys weren’t any older than 23 or 24 years old. Company policy back then was for the workers to jog back into the house after each load of items was carried out and loaded into the van. Doing so keeps the tempo of the work high, impresses the shit out of the customers, gives the guys a workout, and cuts down on the time the whole moving process requires. I watched as just those two guys quickly, efficiently, and safely moved & loaded all the boxes and all the furniture we asked them to. Some furniture was bulky and heavy, as you would expect. One piece in particular was brutally massive and insanely heavy – a custom-built, full-sized, solid oak roll-top desk with all the bells & whistles. I watched in fear as those two Meathead Mover dudes strained mightily with the Herculean task of carrying and loading that impossibly heavy desk. I may as well have asked them to load Thor’s Hammer or a pallet of spent Uranium into the back of their van. There is not a woman in SLO County that could have performed that task. I believe 90% of men aged 45+ could not do what those young guys did without serious risk of back injury or hernia.


The alleged violations and fines levied by the U.S. EEOC are clearly not reality based for the level of expected work capacity and physical work performance that is necessary and routine at Meathead Movers. Instead of huge monetary fines and being forced to hire older workers who are likely to be injured or unable to perform the physical tasks involved in moving, the EEOC should instead require MM to adopt reasonable and articulated employment standards commensurate to MM’s various job positions. Prospective employees would be qualified for employment by several means including screening via a medical physical exam and successful completion of a physical performance abilities test to qualify for the most physically demanding positions at the company. This is standard procedure in other industries for job applicants seeking employment with Police, Fire & Military services, industrial divers, professional sports teams and other occupations where standards for physical performance and work capacity are specifically delineated as inherent to successful job task performance.


4

Couple of feathers running this place, guilty as charged.


-13

Break the law; FOFA.


-15

Obscene!


26

So, if you are qualified to do a job and would otherwise be hired, it’s OK to be discriminated against because of one factor outside your control? What is this? 1850?


-8

Such BS. I am an elderly male. I think I will apply at Victoria’s Secret to be a runway model. Sue if I don’t get the job.


23

These guys were robbed by the leftist democRATs.


32

How did the Democrats levy the fine and what are their names?

Would love to know.

Thanks


11

100%


#NEVERVoteDemoNcratAgain


Californians Against DemoNcrats!


1

I wish someone would investigate the hiring practices of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.


23