Warsaw company resolves age discrimination lawsuit

Seymour Midwest, a company in Warsaw, will pay $100,000 to resolve an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

According to the EEOC, Seymour Midwest asked a candidate for senior vice president of sales if he was within their 45-52 age range.

When the candidate said he was older than that, Seymour Midwest didn't hire him, according to the EEOC.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits age discrimination against anyone at least 40-years of age.

The EEOC filed a suit against Seymour Midwest in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

With the consent degree to settle the suit, Seymour Midwest must pay $100,000, stop collecting age information about a candidate before making a job offer, train its hiring personnel, issue and post notices from its president of its commitment to non-discrimination laws and periodic compliance reporter.

Laurie A. Young, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Indianapolis District Office, said,

“Seymour Midwest rejected an applicant older than its ‘ideal age range’ on the assumption he wouldn’t be working long enough. Making a decision based on an ageist stereotype is discrimination that will not be tolerated," said Laurie A. Young, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Indianapolis District Office in a  press release.