After losing an age discrimination case in court, Montrose Memorial Hospital has to pay “29  former employees — ages 40 and older — a total of $400,000 in a settlement.” The lawsuit itself was filed back in September 2016 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and resulted in a "multi-year investigation sparked by former longtime employees, some with over 20 years experience, who alleged they were fired or forced to resign due to their age.”During the investigation, the EEOC “determined that other workers age 40 and older were aggrieved by the hospital’s discriminatory practices,” Jaeckel said when discussing how the commission contacted 113 former employees throughout the course of the investigation. In the end, what started as a complaint from one former employee snowballed until the lawsuit included more than two dozen other former hospital employees.So what kind of discrimination did the former staff have to endure? For starters, one former nurse, “who worked at the hospital for over 35 years, testified that several comments made by then-chief nursing operator Joan Napolilli were an example of the hospital staff’s discriminatory behavior." According to Jaeckel, the former nurse “overheard Napolilli say, ‘We’ve got to get all of these old monkeys out of here and get cheery young things in.'”

Montrose Memorial Hospital; Image Courtesy of Telluride Daily News, www.telluridenews.com

Additionally, the EEOC's suit also alleged that “several hospital managers and supervisors made ageist comments, including that younger nurses could 'dance around the older nurses' and that they preferred younger and 'fresher' nurses.” On top of that, “supervisors would suggest older nurses should retire.” Jaeckel added, “managers made it evident that they preferred to socialize with younger employees. They perpetuated a culture where older employees felt disregarded and ignored.”Fortunately for the former employees, a settlement was reached that will not only result in monetary damages but will require “the hospital to conduct annual anti-discrimination training for its employees.” The hospital will also have to “revise and distribute its anti-discrimination policy and report to the EEOC any complaints of age discrimination,” according to the settlement agreement. Additionally, Jaeckel claims the “aggrieved individuals” will be eligible to “reapply for employment,” and said: “We think that the consent decree that we entered with the hospital will also help older workers who are at the hospital right now…We were satisfied with the results.”So how has the hospital responded to the claims and the settlement? Well, a hospital spokeswoman issued the following statement:“Although (the hospital) vigorously denies the claims, it was determined that the Montrose community was best served by an earlier end rather than protracted litigation and legal fees. (The hospital) is happy this issue is resolved and we look forward to focusing on the health-care needs of our community in 2018.”

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Hospital settles age-discrimination suitMontrose hospital settles age discrimination lawsuit