New York Paralegal Blog

Retirement System Penalized Older Firefighters Because of Age, Federal Agency Charged NEW YORK – The Village of Amityville, N.Y., and the Amityville Fire Department will pay $209,280 to settle a class age-discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC’s suit alleged that Amityville refused to let volunteer firefighters over age 65 accrue credit toward a “length of service award,” the equivalent of a retirement pension, because of their age. As a result, senior firefighters lost pension amounts after they turned 65, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) a federal law that protects workers age 40 and older from age discrimination. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Civ. No. 2:09-03742 ADS/AKT, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement.

PHOENIX – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that it has filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing pest control company Orkin of discriminatory hiring practices in denying jobs to older workers and favoring Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) (Mormon) applicants, particularly returned missionaries. The EEOC also charged that Orkin retaliated against an applicant who complained to the company’s corporate headquarters about the alleged discrimination. According to the EEOC’s suit against of Orkin L.L.C., and Orkin Inc., doing business as Orkin Pest Control, (Case No. ), filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Orkin discriminated during the hiring process against Thomas Kokezas, as well as a class of individuals based on their age, over 40, or religion, non-Mormon. The EEOC’s complaint alleges that Orkin advertised on Craig’s List for a recruiter “to assist in hiring LDS missionaries for seasonal employ...

LEWISTON, N.C. – Perdue Farms, Inc. will pay $25,500 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced on 05/12/2010. The EEOC had charged in its lawsuit that Perdue Farms violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) by refusing to hire a woman for a position because of her age. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina (EEOC v. Perdue Farms, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:08-CV-38), Audrey Sheftall applied for a position in the deboning department at Perdue Farm’s Lewiston, N.C., facility when she was 66 years old. Although Sheftall was qualified for the position, the EEOC said, Perdue Farms refused to hire her. According to the EEOC, Perdue Farms subsequently hired approximately 74 substantially younger individuals within the month after Sheftall applied, including Sheftall’s granddaughter, who had applied on the same day as Sh...

GULFPORT, Miss. -- Poplar Springs Nursing Center, LLC, a Meridian, Miss., nursing home, will pay $40,000 and furnish other relief to settle an age and race discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Poplar Springs discriminated against Gloria Carey, a 53-year-old black female, by denying her a social worker position because of her age and her race. The EEOC alleged that despite Carey’s 27-plus years of experience as a social worker, Poplar Springs refused to consider her for the position. Instead, the EEOC said, a less qualified 34-year-old white female was the only candidate interviewed and then hired.

MINNEAPOLIS – A federal judge in Minneapolis has ruled that the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) violated federal age discrimination law by maintaining an early retirement incentive plan (ERIP) that reduced benefits for persons over age 55, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today. Under the ERIP, an employee who retired at age 55 would get employer contributions for health and dental insurance until age 65, but an employee who retired after age 55 would get no such employer contributions towards health and dental coverage.