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Insurance broker to pay $300,000 to workers in age bias settlement

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Insurance broker to pay $300,000 to workers in age bias settlement

A New York health insurance broker has agreed to pay $300,000 to three former employees to settle an age-related harassment, discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Melville, New York-based PJP Health Agency Inc.'s management was accused of making discriminatory age-related comments and refusing to promote one of the employees based on her age, and then firing her within three days after meeting with her about her discrimination complaint.

The EEOC said the firm also terminated two male employees based on their age.

The company was accused of violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

In addition to payments to the three former employees, the resolution requires PJP Health to take steps to prevent future age-based harassment, discrimination or retaliation, including conducting training for all employees and management, reporting any complaints and the company's responses to the EEOC, and posting a notice informing employees about the settlement.

“Our hope is that supervisors, particularly younger ones, as was the case here, do not continue to feel emboldened to harass and terminate older employees, but rather become informed that this conduct violates federal law,” New York-based EEOC Senior Trial Attorney Sunu P. Chandy said in a statement. “We are proud of these older workers who risked much to come forward to challenge this type of illegal workplace behavior.”

The company's attorney had no comment.

According to a Newsday article, a new company, Melville, New York-based Key 2 Health Agency Inc., took over PJB's primary office last year.