PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline)—The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that Coatesville Chicken LLC, which does business as Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen in Coatesville, Pennsylvana, has agreed to pay $36,000 and provide significant equitable relief to resolve a federal age discrimination lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the restaurant refused to hire Lula Wright-Hill, then 54, Leroy Keasley, then 40, and Kevin Bryant, then 58, for various positions. Each applicant had to reveal his or her date of birth in the paperwork. When Keasley and Wright-Hill interviewed, EEOC claims that the general manager told them they were “too old” to work there.
"How sad that this employer disadvantaged three applicants, including two military veterans, because of their age," EEOC Philadelphia District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr. said. "EEOC is here to fight for Americans' rights to be free from age discrimination."
The $36,000 in monetary relief represents full back pay with liquidated damages to the three applicants. Coatesville Chicken is also enjoined from engaging in age discrimination or retaliation in the future. The restaurant agreed to revises its hiring policies, no longer asking for date of birth.
"We appreciate that Coatesville Chicken worked with us to resolve the matter without engaging in protracted litigation," EEOC Philadelphia District Office Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence said. “In addition to the compensation for lost wages, the remedial measures will protect applicants and employees from age discrimination."