Ian Clifford, a medically retired IT specialist who has been paid an annual salary of $67,500 as part of his disability plan with employer IBM, recently tried to sue the company for “disability discrimination,” claiming that his salary was not generous enough to keep up with inflation. Clifford hasn’t done any work for the company for the last 15 years, but in keeping with IBM’s disability plan he will continue to receive his annual salary until retirement or death. Some would call this a sweet deal, but Clifford argues that the point of his disability plan is to give security to employees not able to work and that’s not achieved if salaries are forever frozen. The judge in the case, however, didn’t see it that way, dismissing the case as not true disability discrimination.
