Covenant Woods to pay $78,000 in EEOC discrimination lawsuit | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Regulates Federal Retirement Community Costs Dismissed long-tenured receptionist due to age and disability

ATLANTA – Covenant Woods Senior Living, LLC and BrightSpace Senior Living, LLC (collectively “Covenant Woods”), which operate the Covenant Woods retirement community in Columbus, Georgia, will pay $78,000 to settle a U.S.-filed age and disability discrimination lawsuit to settle the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged in its lawsuit that Covenant Woods fired a long-serving receptionist in February 2022, despite recognizing the 78-year-old employee as one of its employees of the year in January 2022. short hospital stay. The EEOC alleged that when the receptionist returned to work, the general manager of Covenant Woods asked her how long she planned to work, whether she had to work, and whether she would prefer to spend her time traveling and visiting family instead from working.

Although the receptionist expressed a desire to continue working, and despite never having previously raised any substantial performance issues with the receptionist, the general manager told the receptionist that Covenant Woods had lost confidence in her ability to work, citing her recent hospitalization. The receptionist was fired the next day and replaced by significantly younger employees.

This alleged conduct violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which respectively prohibit discrimination based on age and disability in the workplace. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Covenant Woods Senior Living, LLC and BrightSpace Senior Living, LLC, Case No. 4:24-cv-00022-CDL) in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia after first had attempted to reach an agreement pre-litigation through the administrative mediation process.

To resolve the case, the court-approved two-year consent decree requires the company to provide monetary relief to the victim, revise its ADEA and ADA policies, post a notice in the workplace informing employees of the settlement, and trains all employees and supervisors. their rights and responsibilities under both the ADEA and the ADA. In addition, the company agreed to provide the EEOC with periodic reports on any future complaints of age or disability discrimination, including a description of each employee’s allegations and the company’s response.

“Employers have a responsibility to evaluate an employee’s performance regardless of age, if the employee is 40 years of age or older, and without regard to any actual or perceived disability,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the Atlanta District Office of the EEOC. “The EEOC is pleased that the former receptionist will be compensated through this early resolution, and that Covenant Woods has agreed to take steps to ensure that it will comply with its obligations under the ADEA and the ADA going forward.”

Darrell Graham, district director of the Atlanta office, said: “Employees have the right to a fair evaluation of their performance, regardless of their age or medical disability. The EEOC remains committed to enforcing that right.”

For more information about age discrimination, visit https://www.eeoc.gov/age-discrimination. For more information about disability discrimination, visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination.

The EEOC’s Atlanta District Office has jurisdiction over Georgia and the South Carolina counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper and Williamsburg.

The EEOC prevents and corrects unlawful discrimination in employment and promotes equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.