Syverson

ORDER AND AMENDED OPINION

ORDER

The panel has voted to deny appellee’s petitions for rehearing and for rehearing en banc. The full court has been advised of the petitions, and no judge has requested a vote on whether to rehear the matter en banc. Fed. R.App. P. 35.

The opinion filed August 31, 2006, slip, op. 10533, and published at 461 F.3d 1147 (9th Cir.2006) is hereby amended as follows:

No further petitions for rehearing will be entertained.

OPINION

Under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (“OWBPA”), employees may not waive rights or claims arising under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) unless the waiver is “knowing and voluntary.” 29 U.S.C. § 626 (f)(1) (2000). To qualify as “knowing and voluntary,” a waiver included in an agreement between an employer and its employees must, among other things, be “written in a manner calculated to be understood” by the average employee eligible to participate in the agreement. Id. § 626(f)(1)(A). This appeal presents the question whether a waiver form used by International Business Machines Corp. (“IBM”) in connection with a severance benefit package meets that standard. We hold that it does not and was…