Resource Real Estate Management, Inc., doing business as Resource Residential, will pay $335,000 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced.

The EEOC charged that Resource Residential, a property management corporation that manages over 12,000 units at multi-family properties in at least 15 states, including four properties in the Savannah, Ga., area, unlawfully subjected three management-level employees, ages 53, 60 and 64, to discrimination by firing them because of their ages and subsequently hiring 14 employees under the age of 40 to support its effort to create a younger image.

Such alleged conduct violates Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC filed suit in September 2010 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The consent decree settling the suit, in addition to the monetary relief of $335,000, includes provisions for equal employment opportunity training, reporting, and anti-discrimination postings. In the suit and consent decree, Resource Residential denied any liability or wrongdoing.

“We are glad to see this matter settled without protracted litigation,” said Bernice Williams-Kimbrough, director of the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “Employers should expect that whenever an employee's civil rights are violated, the EEOC will protect those rights.”

“Not only is age discrimination plainly illegal, it’s unjustifiable and bad for business,” said Robert Dawkins, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “This resolution is another step toward eradicating the practice of wasting talent simply because of age.”