PHILADELPHIA — A Havertown, Pennsylvania, country club faces a lawsuit by the federal government, alleging a longtime groundskeeper was fired because of his age.
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Llanerch Country Club violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) for allegedly laying off a 12-year employee who worked as a groundskeeper when he turned 59. The country club then posted a job announcement one month later for nine groundskeeper positions, and hired nine significantly younger groundskeepers, the EEOC said.
The former groundskeeper was told he would not be rehired because the country club was "looking to take the staff in a younger direction," according to the EEOC.
"Older workers are often forced out of their jobs because of age-based stereotypes, particularly in physically demanding fields such as landscaping where there tends to be a discriminatory preference for younger workers," EEOC Philadelphia District Office regional Attorney Debra Lawrence said in a statement.
"The ADEA has prohibited age discrimination in employment for 50 years now," added EEOC Philadelphia District director Jamie Williamson. "Employers need to understand they cannot make hiring and firing decisions based on illegal motives such as age."
The EEOC lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.