Milpitas Will Pay $140,000 In Age Discrimination Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO - The City of Milpitas will pay $140,000 to settle a suit alleging city staff discriminated against job applicants because of their age, officials with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said.

The suit alleged that city officials failed to hire a qualified applicant more than 50 years old from those who scored higher than the person selected by a review panel.

EEOC attorneys said city officials hired instead a 39-year-old person as city manager's executive secretary.

City officials denied the allegations made by the EEOC, but under a consent decree, agreed to pay the $140,000 to three job applicants, according to federal officials.

As part of the agreement, city officials will distribute a revised age discrimination policy to all employees; offer yearly anti-discrimination training to all employees, managers and supervisors; implement a procedure for reporting age discrimination complaints and report every complaint to the EEOC for two years.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects job applicants 40 years old and older from age discrimination, according to federal officials.

-Bay City News