The Bayville Fire Company on Long Island has agreed to
settle a class age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
The fire company, as well as the Villages of Bayville, Mill Neck, and
Centre Island, will pay a group of about 15-18 firefighters lost
pension money and provide increased monthly pension amounts going
forward to several firefighters. Depending on how many class members
are finally definitively identified and the exact damages established
for each one, the final total damages should be $180,000 to $240,000.
The EEOC’s suit had alleged that the fire company and villages had
refused to let volunteer firefighters over age 65 accrue credit toward
a “length of service award” (LOSAP), the equivalent of a retirement
pension, because of their age. As a result, senior firefighters lost
pension amounts after they turned 65, in violation of the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), a federal law that protects
workers age 40 and older from age discrimination. The EEOC filed
suit, Civ. No. 07-4472, after first attempting to reach a
pre-litigation settlement.
Under the terms of the agreement, the fire company has agreed to
provide the EEOC with contact information for affected firefighters,
and the EEOC will survey the group to ascertain each firefighter’s
lost pension. U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollack, in Brooklyn, will
oversee the process.
All three villages are located in the Town of Oyster Bay on the
North Shore of Long Island, New York, and each village approved
amending the pension plan.
“The system in effect penalized older firefighters because of their
age, and that was simply illegal,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A.
Berrien. “We welcome the decision to settle this case in a way that
ensures that these brave firefighters, who do heroic work, do not
receive different retirement benefits simply because of their age.”