FIRED A 78-YEAR-OLD RECEPTIONIST BECAUSE OF HER AGE AND DISABILITY
In mid-February, the operators of a Columbus, Georgia, retirement community, known as “Covenant Woods,” were sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for wrongfully terminating a receptionist because of her advanced age and disability.
After the 78-year-old had been briefly hospitalized, her manager asked the employee how long she planned to keep working. And even though she assured him of her desire to remain with the company, she was soon fired and replaced with younger employees.
Believing that such conduct violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Covenant Woods Senior Living, LLC and BrightSpace Senior Living, LLC, Case No. 4:24-cv-00022-CDL), in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
In a written statement, Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office noted that “The ADEA prohibits employers from firing someone who is at least 40 years old because of their age …. Additionally, the ADA prohibits employers from terminating an employee because of an actual or perceived disability. Covenant Woods 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.”
Woods you believe that?
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