EEOC Charges Company With Firing Foreman Because of His Age

One day after holding a hearing about how regulators and plan sponsors can help keep older workers in the workforce, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed another age bias suit.

The lawsuit charges that a 52-year old production foreman with years of industry experience was pushed out of his job at the hands of a new superintendent at Fort Worth-based Atlas Resource Partners, because he preferred younger workers.

According to the EEOC, Atlas fired Production Foreman William Hutto despite his record of strong performance for the company. Prior to his termination, Hutto had never been disciplined. The EEOC expects to present evidence that Hutto was a strong and capable worker who was highly regarded by his peers. The EEOC claims that the production superintendent who terminated Hutto also made ageist comments regarding Hutto’s co-workers, including repeated remarks about being “too old to do the job.”

Such alleged conduct violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, (ADEA), which prohibits employers from discriminating based on age. The EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division (EEOC v. Atlas Resource Partners, L.P., Civil Action No.3:17-CV-01582-N), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.