EEOC Sues Dunecraft for Age-Based Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation

Company President Repeatedly Made Age-Biased Remarks and Fired a Logistics Manager Because of His Age and Complaints About the Harassment, Federal Agency Charges

DuneCraft, Inc., a Warrensville Heights, Ohio-based manufacturer of science-themed toys, small terrariums and other products harassed a logistics manager because of his age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a recently filed lawsuit. The EEOC also said the company finally unlawfully fired him because of his age and in retaliation for his complaints about the unlawful age harassment.

According to the EEOC's suit, the company owner and chief executive officer subjected Kevin Marken to three years of unrelenting age-based harassment and mistreatment. Marken, who was 49 years of age when the harassment started, began working at DuneCraft's Cleveland facility as a logistics manager responsible for shipping and receiving orders and was later assigned additional duties, including accounting and human resources responsibilities.

The EEOC says that the company owner regularly made derogatory comments about Marken's age, such as, "You're just too old and slow," and calling him "the old man" in staff meetings and other company settings. The company owner told others that he would not pay Marken as much as other employees because he wanted Marken to quit because he was an "old man." The owner even directed another employee not to interview applicants unless they were in the age range of 21-27, as individuals older than that were, according to DuneCraft's owner, "too hard to mold," the EEOC charged in the lawsuit.

Even though Marken complained to the company about the unwelcome age-based harassment, the harassment continued and culminated in Marken's termination because of his age and in retaliation for his opposition to the unlawful harassment.

Age discrimination and retaliation for complaining about it violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC filed suit ( EEOC v. DuneCraft, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:14-cv-02011) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

"No employee should be subjected to the indignity of age-based taunts, slurs and mockery in order to earn a living," said EEOC Philadelphia District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr. "Age-based harassment is particularly offensive when a company owner is the one responsible for creating the hostile work environment."

EEOC Philadelphia Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, "The EEOC stands ready to vindicate the rights of older workers who are fired because of their age or for exercising their civil rights to complain about unlawful harassment."

The Philadelphia District Office of the EEOC oversees Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio.

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the agency is available at its website, www.eeoc.gov.