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In late April, Covenant Woods Retirement Community and its owner, Brightspace Senior Living, announced a $70,000 settlement in an age and disability discrimination lawsuit brought in February 2024 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They agreed to pay $8,000.
The EEOC said in the lawsuit that the worker had been a receptionist since 2007 but was fired in February 2022.
She received high marks in annual reviews, including being named one of Covenant Woods’ 2021 Employees of the Year in January 2022, the paper said.
However, some members of the retirement community’s management team had suggested that she leave. When the 74-year-old receptionist took medical leave in 2017, her office manager repeatedly asked her why she wasn’t retiring, according to the complaint.
On February 10, 2022, a receptionist developed high blood pressure while working and was taken to the hospital. She was released after two days, and her doctors later said it was due to her dehydration, according to the EEOC.
When she returned to work later that month, she met with her office manager and general manager and was asked how long she intended to continue working and whether she was required to do so in accordance with the EEOC.
They also suggested that she should travel and visit relatives. Her receptionist, who was 78 years old at the time, said she planned to continue working for a few more years.
However, the general manager responded that the company had lost confidence in her ability to perform her job, citing a blood pressure issue earlier that month, the EEOC said.
According to the complaint, the general manager told the receptionist she could choose to work one day a week, be transferred to an unspecified role in another department, or volunteer without pay. The receptionist declined these options.
She then received a letter from the general manager stating that her employment was terminated as a “management decision” because the company had lost confidence in her ability to perform her job, according to the EEOC. This was later confirmed in a letter from Brightspace’s Human Resources Director.
In the lawsuit, the EEOC said the employee was fired “because of his age and disability, or perceived disability,” in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The companies agreed to pay $50,000 in damages and $28,000 in wages to resolve the charges.
“We, Covenant Woods and BrightSpace Senior Living, have resolved this lawsuit for legal costs,” said BrightSpace CFO Brian Hendricks. CBS News In a statement. “We do not condone misconduct or acts of discrimination as part of this resolution.”
As life expectancy increases, the U.S. workforce is aging.
according to data According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 11 million employed people in 2023 will be 65 years of age or older, representing 6.8% of workers 16 years of age or older.This is an increase from his 3.3% of workers 20 years ago.
of Age discrimination in employment law Prohibits age discrimination against people over the age of 40, including in hiring and firing decisions.
Earlier this year, a Louisiana manufacturing and distribution company agreed to pay $105,000 to a former employee who refused to retire at age 65 in a separate EEOC settlement.