A retirement community in Columbus, Georgia, allegedly violated federal law by firing a 78-year-old receptionist due to her age and disability, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed on February 14, 2024.
According to the lawsuit, the receptionist, who was recognized as one of the company’s employees of the year in January 2022, was employed by the company for over 14 years until her sudden termination in February 2022. In that month, the receptionist was briefly hospitalized. Upon her release from the hospital, the receptionist was asked by the general manager how long she planned to continue to work, whether she needed to work, and whether she would like to spend her time traveling and seeing family instead of working.
Despite the receptionist’s insistence that she intended to continue working, and despite having never previously raised any substantial performance concerns to the receptionist, the general manager told the receptionist that the company no longer had confidence in her ability to work, citing her recent hospitalization. The company fired her the next day and replaced her with significantly younger employees.
Such alleged conduct violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which respectively prohibit age and disability discrimination in the workplace.
“The ADEA prohibits employers from firing someone who is at least 40 years old because of their age,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “Additionally, the ADA prohibits employers from terminating an employee because of an actual or perceived disability. [The company] violated both statutes when it terminated a high-performing and long-tenured employee on the unfounded assumption that her age and medical condition would prevent her from doing her job.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Age discrimination involves treating an applicant or employee less favorably because of his or her age. The ADEA forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination. It is not illegal for an employer or other covered entity to favor an older worker over a younger one, even if both workers are age 40 or older. Discrimination can occur when the victim and the person who inflicted the discrimination are both over 40. Disability discrimination occurs when an employer or other entity covered by Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (which protects private and state and local employees) or the Rehabilitation Act (which protects federal employees) treats a qualified employee or applicant unfavorably because of disability. The disability laws forbid discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures on preventing discrimination, including age and disability discrimination. Update as needed.
- Train staff on what is considered discrimination and their role in promptly reporting all types of discrimination to a supervisor, the compliance and ethics officer, or through the facility’s hotline. Train supervisors and the compliance and ethics officer on their role when discrimination has been reported to them by an employee. Stress the importance of nonretaliation. Document that these trainings occurred and file the signed documents in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit by anonymously polling staff to determine if they are experiencing discrimination, or are aware of someone who is, and ask if they feel free to report such instances without fear of retaliation or retribution.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
