US attorney: 'The Project Refuel employee terminations predominantly adversely affected employees aged 40 or over, while General Mills disproportionately retained younger employee' General Mills has been sued by a number of former employees over alleged age discrimination, but the cereal giant says the claims have no merit. In 2012, General Mills laid off around 850 employees under its 'Project Refuel' restructuring program, around half of which were from its Twin Cities plant in Minneapolis.