Grumpy Old Men Collect $295,000

A large retail outlet learned the hard way not to permit a regional director to allegedly harass district managers 50 and older by calling them “grumpy old men.”

And allegedly telling them that he needed “young blood” and a “millennial team” which they were told they had to keep up with.

One older district manager had enough – he resigned and reported this harassment to the company, which allegedly never investigated the claim.  Worse, the regional director allegedly “continued harassing older workers and fired two district managers in retaliation for reporting his misconduct. Eventually another district manager was forced to quit because of the continual harassment.” The EEOC apparently saw easy harassment and retaliation claims.

The EEOC took up the case and just announced that it settled it for $295,000, and other decreed relief.

Under the decree, the company must protect older workers in the region by “training retail and human resources managers, adopting and distributing effective policies and procedures to prevent age harassment and discrimination, and notifying employees of their rights.” The company must also report to the EEOC regarding its compliance with the above tasks.

Think about it - no one likes a government agency looking over your shoulder.

And it gave me the opportunity to add to my long running list of ageist comments that older workers have been called or referred to.

The EEOC district director stated “Employers that discriminate against older workers based on ageist stereotypes and assumptions not only violate the law, they also deprive themselves of an experienced and capable workforce. Age discrimination has no place in any business.”

Takeaway

It should be common knowledge by now that an employer which fails to have a robust anti-harassment policy and updated employee manual, fails to adequately train its managers and all employees, fails to take harassment or any discrimination claim seriously, fails to investigate a claim of discrimination, and fails to take remedial steps if warranted, is a prime target for a discrimination suit.

And the EEOC will gladly oblige.

It’s one thing to have to shell out a lot of money (ouch!), and yet another to have the EEOC overseeing your company.