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Compliance November 19, 2012
EEOC Sues Auto Parts Co. for Age Discrimination
November 19, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – An automotive parts maker demoted and fired a group of employees because of age, the EEOC charged.
Reported by Kristen Heinzinger
TEPRO Inc. subjected a class of 20 or more employees to age discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said in a lawsuit filed on November 15, 2012.
The suit, filed in U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, alleges that TEPRO, operating a facility in Winchester, Tennessee, targeted and terminated older employees while retaining younger workers. TEPRO told older employees that they had to accept demotions or lose their jobs, and then eliminated the demoted positions.
The suit seeks monetary relief in the form of back pay and liquidated damages, reinstatement, and an injunction against future discrimination and retaliation.
“Systemic age discrimination is of great concern to the EEOC, and we will do our job to eradicate it,” said Katharine W. Kores, district director of the EEOC’s Memphis District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee and portions of Mississippi. “Employers cannot discharge older workers based on discriminatory stereotypes.”