Question:  Would age discrimination training have prevented this case?  See our trainings at http://www.hrclassroom.com.

Star Tex Gasoline & Oil Distributors, a wholesale supplier of diesel, fuels, gasoline, lubricants and oils based in Corpus Christi, will pay $10,000 and provide other equitable relief to settle an age discrimination lawsuit.

According to the EEOC’s suit, Star Tex refused to consider a former fire chief for employment after he received a referral for a truck driver position from Texas Workforce Solutions. The applicant had years of relevant work experience operating tankers, 18-wheel vehicles and emergency vehicles. Yet when he went to apply for work, the Star Tex hiring official who met with him was focused entirely on his age rather than his qualifications and experience, the EEOC said, and refused to consider him because of his age.

Such alleged conduct violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division (EEOC v. Star Tex Gasoline & Oil Distributors, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:11-CV-305) after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.

The two-year consent decree resolving this case, approved by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, requires Star Tex to adopt and implement an effective equal employment opportunity policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of age; provide training on the requirements of the ADEA to members of Star Tex’s management at its Corpus Christi facility; and pay $10,000 to the victim of the discrimination in this case.