Battling Age Discrimination and Unjust Termination

Ms. A's Tale

Meet Ms. A, a seasoned insurance industry professional with an impressive thirty-year career under her belt. Her story unfolds as she joined an insurance agency later in her career, marking the beginning of her journey into a battle against age discrimination and wrongful termination.
In her capacity as Assistant VP, Ms. A's dedication and competence shone through. She received two annual performance reviews that consistently affirmed her adherence to the organization's standards and praised her as a "pleasure to have in the office" who was "very committed to S&S."

However, a challenging year began to unfold. Ms. A faced personal turmoil as her mother passed away, leading her to take time off for the funeral. She also battled illness, taking several sick days. Unfortunately, she received reprimands for both, setting the stage for a turbulent period ahead.

Ms. A was confronted with an unwarranted oral warning for absenteeism, based on incorrect records. During this unsettling warning, she was informed that her absence was deemed inappropriate and impermissible.

A critical aspect of her story involves her supervisor, a woman in her early thirties. The strained relationship between became apparent, with Ms. A suspecting that her supervisor harbored discomfort working alongside someone older and more experienced. The supervisor's actions went beyond her job description, as she meticulously tracked Ms. A's days in and out of the office, grossly inflating her absenteeism. This skewed reporting aimed to discredit Ms. A's work and commitment to the company.

Ms. A then faced her own health crisis that would test her resilience. She was admitted to the hospital for a grueling thirteen-day stay, following surgery and an additional six days in the Intensive Care Unit. An unknown lung disease had nearly claimed her life.

During her hospitalization, Ms. A's husband submitted a doctor's letter explaining her health situation and the need for time off. Shockingly, Ms. A's absence was met with disapproval from Human Resources, who deemed Ms. A's failure to respond to office communications while in intensive care as "unacceptable." Ms. A resorted to using her FMLA allowance to receive necessary treatment.

Meanwhile, her supervisor had a younger woman in her thirties fill in for Ms. A during her sick leave. Upon her discharge from the hospital, Ms. A required twelve more weeks of treatment.

When her FMLA allowance was exhausted, Ms. A was cleared to return to work, initially working two days a week in the office and three days from home. Her body was still grappling with the aftermath of medications, side effects, and treatments for her health issues.
While remote work was not uncommon at the agency, especially for younger women in the real estate department, Ms. A faced criticism when she needed to work from home due to her physical illness.

Despite her best efforts, her health occasionally prevented her from being physically present in the office. However, she diligently continued her work from home, ensuring her productivity remained high.
Later that year, Ms. A's physical condition took a severe turn as she became ill and vomited in her car while en route to work. She promptly informed her supervisor of her condition and her need to return home. Just weeks later, Ms. A faced the devastating blow of termination, under the pretext of "poor attendance."

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Legal Claims

Based on the facts she's presented, Ms. A asserted several legal claims against the agency, including:

Discrimination and Wrongful Termination Due to Age: Ms. A contended that her age, 55 years old, placed her in the protected age group, and she consistently performed at or above the company's standards. False accusations regarding her absence from the office were used as pretexts to issue warnings, all orchestrated to push her out of the company due to her age.
Retaliation: Ms. A also contended that her treatment was retaliation based on her exercise of FMLA rights and legally authorized sick leave. Her termination directly resulted from her health-related absences.

Our Solution

We first met Ms. A after her original attorney had sadly passed away. We took over the MCAD file and entered an appearance on her behalf. After reviewing the complaint, position statement and rebuttal in MCAD, we entered into mediation with the agency and were able to obtain a favorable settlement of her claims.

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