SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) — The city of Milpas, California, has agreed to pay $140,000 and provide additional relief after allegations of discriminating based on age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced.
EEOC charged the city with failing to hire qualified applicants older than 50 for a position in which they scored higher on a candidate panel review than the individual selected. The city purportedly hired a younger applicant, age 39, for the position of executive secretary to the city manager.
This kind of alleged conduct violates the Age Discrimination Act in Employment (ADEA).
"Older workers continue to face bias due to negative stereotypes," said San Francisco district director William Tamayo. "We hope the positive changes implemented by the city of Milpitas under this consent decree will serve as a model for how to do business in Silicon Valley."
The city agreed to distribute revised age discrimination policies to all city employees. It also will need to develop a procedure for reporting complaints and develop a training program on anti-discrimination for employees.
"We are pleased that the city of Milpas worked cooperatively with us to reach an amicable settlement and avoid, for all parties, the time and expense of continued litigation,” said EEOC senior trial attorney Peter Laura.