The Laurels of Athens, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Athens, Ohio, violated federal civil rights laws by discriminating against a physical therapy assistant because of his age and sex and then retaliating against him for complaining about discrimination, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in a lawsuit. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, when he was fired in 2020, the former physical therapy assistant was 59 years old and a few months away from his 60th birthday. The suit claimed that when the employee tried to return from approved medical leave, The Laurels of Athens fired him and claimed there was no work available even though there was physical therapy assistant work available and it was offered to others. The company also refused to rehire the employee after he filed a charge of discrimination, according to the lawsuit. Such alleged conduct violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which prohibits age discrimination, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination. Both statutes prohibit employers from engaging in unlawful retaliation.
