Current:Home > StocksEmployer who fired 78-year-old receptionist must now pay her $78,000 -Aspire Financial Strategies
Employer who fired 78-year-old receptionist must now pay her $78,000
View
Date:2025-04-17 15:19:47
The operator of a retirement facility in Columbus, Georgia, will have to pay $78,000 to a receptionist to settle an age and disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Shirley Noble was 78 when she was terminated from her job at Covenant Woods Senior Living in February of 2022 — one month after being honored as a 2021 employee of the year — according to a lawsuit filed by the agency in federal court.
Noble, who had worked for Covenant for 14 years, returned to her job after a brief hospitalization to find a new, younger employee seated at her desk, the EEOC alleged. At a meeting with her manager the following day, Noble was questioned about whether she needed to continue working and how long she saw herself continuing in the workforce, according to the complaint.
Noble expressed a desire to continue working for two or three more years, but the next day was told she was being let go due to a loss of confidence in her abilities, with her hospitalization cited as a concern that led to the decision, the EEOC alleged.
"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," Marcus Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC's Atlanta district office, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Covenant Woods is owned by Chattanooga, Tennessee-based BrightSpace Senior Living, which operates a handful of retirement communities in four states.
"We at Covenant Woods and BrightSpace Senior Living resolved this case due to the cost of litigating it," BrightSpace Chief Financial Officer Brian Hendricks said in a statement. "We do not admit wrongdoing or discriminatory conduct as part of this resolution. Covenant Woods and BrightSpace Senior Living remain committed to compliance with all discrimination and labor and employment laws."
Kate GibsonKate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York.
veryGood! (24317)
Related
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Warm Arctic? Expect Northeast Blizzards: What 7 Decades of Weather Data Show
- After being bitten by a rabid fox, a congressman wants cheaper rabies treatments
- Fracking the Everglades? Many Floridians Recoil as House Approves Bill
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- Millions of Americans are losing access to maternal care. Here's what can be done
- East Coast Shatters Temperature Records, Offering Preview to a Warming World
- California Well Leaking Methane Ordered Sealed by Air Quality Agency
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- The Ice Bucket Challenge wasn't just for social media. It helped fund a new ALS drug
Ranking
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- Early signs a new U.S. COVID surge could be on its way
- I always avoided family duties. Then my dad had a fall and everything changed
- 'Where is humanity?' ask the helpless doctors of Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region
- Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
- Do Hundreds of Other Gas Storage Sites Risk a Methane Leak Like California’s?
- Some States Forging Ahead With Emissions Reduction Plans, Despite Supreme Court Ruling
- 236 Mayors Urge EPA Not to Repeal U.S. Clean Power Plan
Recommendation
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
Even in California, Oil Drilling Waste May Be Spurring Earthquakes
How Life Will Change for Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis After the Coronation
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa's injury sparks concern over the NFL's concussion policies
Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
Reward offered for man who sold criminals encrypted phones, unaware they were tracked by the FBI
Today’s Climate: July 2, 2010
These $9 Kentucky Derby Glasses Sell Out Every Year, Get Yours Now While You Can