COLE COUNTY, Mo. — A Cole County jury awarded $1.7 million to a former Missouri Department of Corrections probation and parole officer who said she was fired after she complained about age discrimination, her attorney announced.
On Sept. 26, jurors found the department violated the Missouri Human Rights Act by subjecting the woman to “age discrimination and executing a campaign to end her career,” according to a news release from her lawyer, Cyrus Dashtaki.
The officer joined the department in 1991. She alleged that management routinely demeaned older employees and urged leadership to “get rid of deadwood,” force out “old-timers,” “hire more millennials” and bring in “new blood,” according to the release. She also said one manager repeatedly called her “mom.”
“This was a textbook example of age discrimination in violation of the MHRA,” Dashtaki said.
At trial, the lawyer presented evidence that “exposed a systemic pattern” of workers in their 50s and 60s being pushed into early retirement or ousted, while new hires “were almost exclusively” in their 20s and 30s, according to the release.
The officer alleged that after she formally complained about age bias, the department “manufactured a pretextual termination” — a false reason for firing her, the release states.
In August 2018, she helped jailers and police subdue a violent offender who had slipped out of his handcuffs, according to the release. Nearly six months later, the department “weaponized” that incident, accusing her of possessing her firearm in a secure area to justify her termination, the release states.
