78-year-old employee of the year was fired for age, feds say. Now she’s owed thousands
A federal lawsuit over the firing of a longtime receptionist at a Georgia retirement community has been settled two months after the case was brought in court.
The woman was 78 when she lost her job at Covenant Woods in Columbus in February 2022 — a month after her employer recognized her as a 2021 employee of the year, the lawsuit says. She had worked there more than 14 years, McClatchy News previously reported.
The reason she was fired, according to the suit, was because of her age and a two-day hospital stay the month of her termination.
In February, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Covenant Woods Senior Living and BrightSpace Senior Living, the operators of the retirement community, accusing them of age and disability discrimination.
Now Covenant Woods has agreed to settle the lawsuit for $78,000, the EEOC, the federal agency in charge of protecting workers against discrimination, announced in an April 30 news release.
Covenant Woods is to pay the woman the amount in full, according to a consent decree filed April 29. She will receive $50,000 for compensatory damages and $28,000 for wages.
Chief Financial Officer Brian Hendricks of BrightSpace Senior Living told McClatchy News in a statement on May 1 that “We at Covenant Woods and BrightSpace Senior Living resolved this case due to the cost of litigating it.
“We do not admit wrongdoing or discriminatory conduct as part of this resolution,” Hendricks said, and added that the companies “remain committed to compliance with all discrimination and labor and employment laws.”
What led to her firing?
On Feb. 10, 2022, the woman was hospitalized after experiencing high blood pressure at work, according to the lawsuit.
When she returned to her office, she noticed a new employee, who was about 30 years younger, sitting at her desk, the lawsuit says.
That day, the woman met with the general manager, who questioned her about how long she planned to work for the company, according to the suit.
“Where do you see yourself? Do you need to keep working? Don’t you want to travel? See your brother?” are questions the manager is accused of asking her, the lawsuit says.
The woman made it clear she wanted to continue working for two or three more years, according to the EEOC.
However, Covenant Woods fired her as a “‘business decision’ based on a loss of confidence in (her) abilities,” the lawsuit says.
Her hospitalization was cited as a “safety concern” that led to “the difficult change,” according to the suit.
Afterward, she was replaced with “substantially younger employees,” according to the EEOC.
Covenant Woods and BrightSpace Senior Living were accused of violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Employers have a responsibility to evaluate an employee’s performance without regard to age, if the employee is 40 and over, and without regard to an actual or perceived disability,” said Marcus G. Keegan, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta district office.
“The EEOC is pleased that through this early resolution, the former receptionist will be compensated, and that Covenant Woods has agreed to take steps to ensure that it meets its obligations under the ADEA and the ADA going forward,” Keegan said in the release.
As part of the two-year consent decree, Covenant Woods must revise policies on the ADEA and ADA, inform its employees of the settlement, and train its employees on both federal laws, according to the EEOC.
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