Wholesale Grocers, Inc. is shutting down several warehouses in upstate New York. The company’s pension plan provides that employees are entitled to a nonforfeitable pension upon retirement after working for the company for five years. When closing the warehouses, the company decided to offer severance pay to workers under the age of fiftyfive, while workers aged fifty-five or older were offered early retirement but no severance pay. Does the denial of severance pay violate the ADEA?

Explain. See E.E.O.C. v. Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. [618 F.Supp. 115 (D.C. Ohio 1985)].