Ohio Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility to Pay $150,000 in Age, Sex and Retaliation Discrimination Case

CLEVELAND – The Laurels of Athens, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Athens, Ohio, owned and operated by Laurel Heath Care Company, Athens LTC, Inc., Ciena Healthcare Management, Inc., and Ciena Group, LLC, will pay $150,000 and provide other relief to settle an age and sex discrimination case filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, a physical therapy assistant was fired in 2020 after he tried to return from approved medical leave. At the time, the employee was 59 years old and a few months away from his 60th birthday. The Laurels of Athens fired him and claimed there was no work available even though it offered work to other younger, female physical therapy assistants. The company also refused to rehire the employee after he filed a charge of discrimination.

Such alleged conduct violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which prohibits age discrimination, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Laurel Health Care Company, et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-03159) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

The two-year decree settling the suit requires the Laurels of Athens and others to pay $150,000 in back pay and compensatory damages, and to provide periodic reporting, monitoring, and live training for management, human resources, and non-supervisory employees to ensure compliance with the ADEA and Title VII. 

“The EEOC is committed to remedying age and sex discrimination,” said Philadelphia District Office Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence. “Reporting discrimination to the EEOC is protected activity and employers who retaliate against employees for doing so will be held accountable.” 

The EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. EEOC attorneys in the Philadelphia District also litigate violations of employment laws the agency enforces in Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.

For more information on age discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/age-discrimination. More information on sex discrimination and retaliation is available at https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination and https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.