Dental group settles EEOC charges after firing counsel, HR director
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The American Dental Association has agreed to pay $1.95 million to settle U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges that it had discharged its chief legal counsel and director of human resources in retaliation for complaining to the board about potential violations of federal anti-discrimination laws, the agency said Thursday.
The Chicago-based ADA said the charges are “without merit.”
The EEOC said in addition to paying the settlement, the ADA will conduct training on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Julianne Bowman, director of EEOC’s Chicago’s district office, said in a statement: “The position of EEOC is that human resources professionals and in-house lawyers who advise their employers to abide by anti-discrimination laws are engaged in protected activities, and any retaliation against them for doing so is illegal."
The ADA said in a statement it “believes the claims made by the former employees are without merit but believes that settling this matter without the necessity for a trial is in the best interests of the Association.”
The ADA said also the EEOC settlement includes payments to the former employees that are covered by ADA’s insurance and are not paid from the association’s assets. It did not provide further details of the coverage.
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