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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
An accounting software and data processing firm agreed to pay $32,500 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The 2011 lawsuit claimed that the Shawano, Wis.-based company, Computer Systems L.L.C., violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 after laying off a 60-year-old employee and replacing her with a younger worker.
Sharon Passon was a billing specialist with Computer Systems for 38 years. Her position was to be eliminated as part of a reduction in force in April 2010. Her position allegedly was replaced by a 34 year old, less qualified billing specialist, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Wisconsin in Green Bay, Wis.
Last week, a consent decree settling the suit requires Computer Systems to pay Ms. Passon $32,500 and prohibits further discrimination, the EEOC said in a statement.
"In recent years, the economic slowdown has led some companies to base employment decisions on an individual's age," said John C. Hendrickson, regional attorney of the EEOC's Chicago district office, in the statement. "Sometimes we need to reinforce, through litigation, the message that older individuals are productive workers and should be rewarded for their loyalty and hard work.”
Computer Systems’ assets — but not its liabilities — were acquired by Lake Saint Louis, Mo.-based National Information Solutions Cooperative Inc. in November 2010, according to the statement, which noted that NISC is not responsible for Ms. Passon’s termination.
Attempts to reach Computer Systems and NISC for immediate comment were unsuccessful.
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