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EEOC sues legal staffing firm, claims age discrimination

September 26, 2014

Strategic Legal Solutions, a national legal staffing and legal project management services firm, allegedly violated federal law when it rejected a 70-year-old attorney when it discovered her age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit filed yesterday.

The EEOC claims Strategic Legal Solutions offered a New York-based attorney temporary work on a project in Michigan. The attorney accepted, and then Strategic Legal Solutions asked for her date of birth. Within 90 minutes of receiving the attorney’s date of birth, the company called to withdraw the offer, alleging she could not arrive at the worksite in time to begin work on the next day, according to the EEOC. When attorney questioned whether the real reason the company suddenly withdrew its offer was because of her age, the company told her she would be placed on a “do not use” list and she need not apply for future work assignments with Strategic Legal Solutions, according to the EEOC.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits age-based discrimination against employees or applicants who are 40 years of age or older, and also prohibits an employer from retaliating against an employee or applicant who complains about age discrimination.

The EEOC filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process, according to the EEOC. The lawsuit seeks monetary relief for the discrimination victim as well as court injunctions intended to educate the company about its obligations under the ADEA, remedy past discrimination and retaliation, and prevent future ADEA violations.

Robert Rose, regional attorney for the EEOC’s New York District, said that 22.8 percent of all complaints filed last year with the EEOC nationwide included an allegation of age discrimination and 41.1 percent included an allegation of retaliation.