Age Discrimination Claim Settlement

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  During Fiscal Year 2008, the EEOC received a record 24,582 age discrimination charge filings, a 29% increase from the prior year and a 65% jump from the number of filings in Fiscal Year 2005.  Further about the EEOC and federal age discrimination claims may be located in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov .

In a June 3, 2009 EEOC Press Release, federal attorneys announced that Alaska’s largest hospital has agreed to pay $220,000.00 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of five workers laid off and denied rehire because of their age.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/6-3-09a.html .  According to the EEOC Press Release, the hospital laid off and refused to rehire the longtime workers following a restructuring of the hospital’s operating room.  As stated in the Press Release, the five employees had devoted between 11 and 24 years of their careers as surgery aides and anesthesia techicians to the hospital and were replaced by new hires in their twenties and thirties.  Such alleged conduct violates the Age discrimination in Employment Act.  An EEOC attorney was quoted in the Press Release as saying that “Employers have a duty to ensure that they do not run afoul of the law when they restructure their workforce.” 

Whether employment related age bias occurs in New Braunfels, San Marcos, Seguin or elsewhere, victims of workplace age discrimination may contact the EEOC and an attorney or lawyer to determine if an age discrimination lawsuit may ultimately be appropriate under the particular circumstances and facts of the potential employment discrimination claim.