What steps should employers take to reduce the likelihood that supervisors will make negative comments about workers’ ages?

Ellen Mendelsohn worked for Sprint United Management Company (Sprint) from 1989 to 2002, when Sprint fired her during a companywide reduction in the workforce. She sued under the ADEA, alleging disparate treatment based on her age (fifty-one). Five other former Sprint employees testified that they had also suffered discrimination based on age. Three said that they had heard managers make remarks belittling older workers and indicating that age was a factor in deciding who would be fired during the restructuring. None of the five witnesses worked in the same part of the company as Mendelsohn, however, and none could testify about her supervisors.