Jed York, 49ers named in age discrimination lawsuit

San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York speaks during a news conference at 49ers football headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, Dec. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar) San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York speaks during a news conference at 49ers football headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, Dec. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar) Photo: TONY AVELAR / Associated Press Photo: TONY AVELAR / Associated Press Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Jed York, 49ers named in age discrimination lawsuit 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Two former 49ers employees filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the team, saying they were fired in their late 50s after owner Jed York sought to rebrand the franchise as a “startup” prior to the team’s move to its new stadium in Silicon Valley.

The suit, filed Friday in federal court, alleges that York fired Anthony Lozano and Keith Yanagi, as well as “a lot” of other older employees, in 2011 to replace them with younger workers, specifically from tech companies located near Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

When asked why he wanted to bring in a younger workforce, the suit says, York responded that younger tech workers “made a lot of money, they did a lot of cool things before they were 40 years old, and they don’t want to go play golf six days a week.”

The shift came soon after York hired Gideon Yu — a former executive at Facebook, YouTube and Yahoo — who, according to the suit, referred to older workers as “legacy employees,” a derogatory term within tech companies.

The suit describes a situation in which York was presented with two equally qualified job applicants. Asked which he preferred, York purportedly replied, “Let’s go with the younger one.”

A spokesman for the 49ers declined to comment on the suit.

Lozano was hired in 1989 as facilities manager and worked with the team for more than 22 years. He was an exemplary employee, according to the lawsuit, receiving consistently positive performance reviews and commendations. He was named “employee of the month” in 2010.

Lozano described being demeaned at staff meetings for having gray hair by Vice President of Stadium Operations Jim Mercurio, whom the suit says once asked Lozano, “How much longer do you intend to work here?”

Yanagi was hired as a video assistant in 1987. He worked his way up and was promoted to director of video operations in 2004. Yanagi also received excellent evaluations over his 25 years with the organization, according to the lawsuit.

When they were fired, both Lozano and Yanagi, who were 56 and 59 respectively, were told that the team was “going in a different direction,” but were given no further explanation as to why they were being let go, the suit says.

The suit states that the team, by firing a group of older workers within a short time period, violated federal regulations meant to protect employees from age discrimination. Yanagi and Lozano also allege they were pressured to sign release papers without being given proper time to read over the complex legal documents.

The suit seeks unspecified damages for wrongful termination, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Kale Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kwilliams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfkale