A former employee of Honeywell International’s Shanghai, China-based subsidiary, must pursue her wrongful termination dispute in China, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Orso determined Thursday.
The worker was a U.S. citizen of Chinese ancestry who lived and worked in Shanghai as a vice president and general counsel for the Asia-Pacific region. Her role entailed reporting to Honeywell’s executive leaders in North Carolina.
She filed a lawsuit under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in July 2025, after she was terminated the previous October on her 55th birthday in keeping with China’s mandatory retirement age, arguing Honeywell should not enforce the Chinese policy against her as a U.S. citizen working under China’s Class A work permit.
Judge Orso granted Honeywell summary judgment in the case, arguing the worker had signed an employment contract agreeing to a dispute resolution process that included mediation, arbitration before the Shanghai Labor and Human Resources Disputes Arbitration Commission and filing with the People’s Court of Shanghai.
This agreement and others also included language indicating the worker’s employment would eventually be terminated in keeping with China’s mandatory retirement age, the judge said.
While the plaintiff’s “choice of forum generally warrants considerable deference,” Judge Orso said, “the calculus changes” when the parties have agreed to a mandatory forum selection clause.
The worker already filed an arbitration claim with the Shanghai Labor Commission in December 2024, seeking damages for alleged breach of contract, including executive severance, a bonus and other compensation, per the opinion. The claims were denied and remain under appeal.
“Regarding civil-rights-specific claims, where the foreign forum does not have the plaintiff’s preferred civil rights law, courts have upheld forum selection clauses,” the judge noted.
China is one of a few countries in the world that mandates retirement at a certain age for men and women; Chinese lawmakers voted to raise those ages in 2025 due to increased life expectancy and a declining working-age population, among other factors.