Age Discrimination Lawsuit Claiming Employer Targeted Older Workers For Medical Exams Filed By EEOC
In a press release issued on February 11, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against Yale New Haven Hospital, Inc. (YNHH). On February 11, 2020, the EEOC filed the age discrimination lawsuit, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Yale New Haven Hospital, Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-00187, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut after initially attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its statutorily mandated conciliation process.
The EEOC has brought the age discrimination pursuant to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) on behalf of an employee of YNHH, Dr. Irwin Nash (Dr. Nash). Under the ADEA, employees are protected against discrimination on the basis of age with respect to the entire spectrum of the compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. This means that the ADEA’s prohibition against age discrimination applies to all employment decisions. The EEOC claims that YNHH violated the ADEA by requiring Dr. Nash and other individuals age 70 and older who apply for or seek to renew medical staff privileges at YNHH to submit to medical examinations. In this article, our Marion County, Florida age discrimination attorneys explain the EEOC’s allegations against YNHH.
EEOC Claims Age-Based Discrimination
YNHH is the teaching hospital of Yale Medical School, a part of Yale University All members of the Yale Medical School faculty, like Dr. Nash, must obtain medical staff privileges at YNHH. At the time of initial appointment to the Yale Medical School faculty and every two years thereafter, all physicians who are members of the YNHH medical staff undergo a thorough examination of their skills and competence. In this process, consideration is given to each individual’s ability to exercise the privileges requested in the hospital setting with reasonable skill and safety. Medical staff privileges are granted following appropriate evaluation by medical staff leadership.
Since March 2016, according to the EEOC, YNHH has imposed an additional term and condition on the granting of medical staff privileges for those age 70 and above through implementation of what YNHH calls its “Late Career Practitioner Policy.” The Late Career Practitioner Policy requires an individual age 70 or older who applies for or seeks to renew medical staff privileges at YNHH to take both an ophthalmologic and neuropsychological medical examination. Individuals who are younger than age 70 are not subjected to this requirement.
The EEOC claims that individuals age 70 or older are subjected to the Late Career Practitioner Policy “solely because of their age and without any particularized suspicion that their eyesight or neuropsychological ability may have declined.” The EEOC further claims that by applying the Late Career Practitioner Policy only to those individuals age 70 or older, YNHH has “subjected Dr. Nash, who passed the examinations, and other employees to the stigma of being singled out because of their age and to unlawful discrimination” in violation of the ADEA.
Fighting Age Discrimination
The EEOC is the administrative agency of the United States responsible for interpreting and enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. In enforcing the federal civil rights laws, the EEOC is also authorized by federal law to bring lawsuits on behalf of employees who have been discriminated against because of their age. In a press release issued by the EEOC on February 11, 2020 regarding the case, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s New York District Office, Jeffrey Burstein, explained that “while Yale New Haven Hospital may claim that its policy is well-intentioned, it violates anti-discrimination laws.” “There are many other non-discriminatory methods already in place,” Mr. Burstein added, “to ensure the competence of all its physicians and other health care providers, regardless of age.”
Consultation With Ocala Age Discrimination Lawyers
Based in Ocala, Florida and representing employees throughout Central Florida, our Marion County, Florida age discrimination attorneys have been fighting for the rights of age discrimination victims for more than two decades. If you have been discriminated against on the basis of age or have questions about your protection against age discrimination under the federal anti-discrimination laws, please contact our office for a free consultation with our Ocala, Florida age discrimination lawyers. Our employment and labor law attorneys take age discrimination cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that there are no attorney’s fees incurred unless there is a recovery and our attorney’s fees come solely from the monetary award that you recover.