A Georgia retirement facility has opted to pay a $78,000 settlement to a former employee over age discrimination. The former employee, Shirley Noble, is a 78-year-old woman who worked as a receptionist at the Covenant Woods Retirement Facility.
According to the court filing, Noble started working with the retirement community in 2007. After dedicating over a decade of her life to the facility, which BrightSpace Senior Living owns, Noble was terminated abruptly in February 2022.
It all started on February 10, 2022, when Noble fell ill at work. She was rushed to the hospital after reportedly experiencing high blood pressure. According to the lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the hospital discharged Noble two days after her hospitalization.
However, as she resumed work, the 78-year-old found a new, younger staff at her desk. Upon seeing the new employee at her desk, Noble spoke to the facility manager the next day.
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The lawsuit filed by the EEOC stated that the general manager asked about Noble’s age and whether she planned to continue working for the facility. Noble explained that she intended to keep working for a few more years before retiring.
Unfortunately, her explanation fell on deaf ears, and the woman received a termination letter the following day. Afterward, the EEOC took up the case, filing a lawsuit against the facility and its owners. According to the lawsuit filed on her behalf, the EEOC claimed the retirement facility terminated Noble because of her age.
After the lawsuit became public, Noble’s accusations started to gain momentum. As a result, the retirement facility agreed to a settlement. The company agreed to pay nearly $80,000 to the 78-year-old woman in a settlement. However, despite agreeing to pay a settlement, the company noted that it wasn’t admitting any wrongdoing.
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Furthermore, the company noted that it only agreed to pay the settlement due to the cost of litigation. Like Noble, another senior citizen recently won in court against her former workplace over age discrimination.
After working with the company for over a decade, the company fired the woman, reportedly approaching 65, for refusing to retire. According to the EEOC, age discrimination has become common in the workforce, with several companies firing people above 40 for simply aging.
2023 data from the Bureau of Labor reveals that over 10 million people in the workforce were 65 and older. This figure makes up nearly 7% of the country’s workforce. In a statement on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, EEOC’s Atlanta office pointed out that employees should pay attention to workers’ performance instead of their ages.
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The issue of age discrimination in the workforce is contentious, with many sharing opposing views. While some believe the official retirement age should be 65, others argue that senior citizens should be allowed to work if they want to.
Furthermore, there are laws in place targeting work-age discrimination. One such law is the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which prohibits age discrimination against workers above 40.
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