The Stillwater School District must pay $137,000 to settle an age discrimination lawsuit.
Sherman Danielson, currently a part-time teacher and coach at Stillwater Junior High School, filed age discrimination charges against the district with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2005, after he was passed over for a job as an athletic coordinator.
Danielson, then 56, had worked for the district for 34 years as a teacher and administrator. His complaint alleged that the district hired a much younger applicant who had no school administrative experience and had never held a full-time teaching position.
The EEOC, which filed suit against the district, said it was an important case. "It underscores how ageist stereotypes can infect a hiring process when older and younger applicants are vying for the same job," said John Hendrickson, the EEOC regional attorney for the Chicago District, which includes Minnesota.
The consent decree also requires the district to provide age discrimination training to its employees and report to the EEOC for the next two years.
In a statement, the Stillwater district said it admitted no wrongdoing in the decree. "The district maintains that in making the hiring decision all state and federal laws were complied with and that the process was fair and respectful," the statement said. "We believe it was in the district's best financial interest to resolve this matter."
GREGORY A. PATTERSON
