AGE DISCRIMINATION CASE BROUGHT BY EEOC SETTLED FOR $78K
Two companies, which operate the “Covenant Woods” retirement community out in Columbus, Georgia, have agreed to settle age and disability discrimination claims which had been brought against them by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Apparently, the companies fired the community’s 78-year-old receptionist after she was briefly hospitalized. When she returned to work, she was questioned about her plans, whether she needed a job, and would prefer to spend more time with family or traveling. Despite reassuring her employer she was committed to the position, she was informed that they had “lost confidence in her ability to work.” She was later fired and replaced with a younger employee.
Believing that such conduct violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Covenant Woods Senior Living, LLC and BrightSpace Senior Living, LLC, Case No. 4:24-cv-00022-CDL) in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
In addition to a $78k payment, the company has agreed to modify its employment related policies and practices and to report discrimination complaints to the agency on a “periodic basis.”
In a written statement, Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office noted that, “Employers have a responsibility to evaluate an employee’s performance without regard to age, if the employee is 40 and over, and without regard to an actual or perceived disability …. The EEOC is pleased that through this early resolution, the former receptionist will be compensated, and that Covenant Woods has agreed to take steps to ensure that it meets its obligations under the ADEA and the ADA going forward.”
That receptionist didn’t need another calling?
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