County Will Pay $260,000 in Age Bias Lawsuit

Orange County has agreed to pay a $260,000 settlement in an age discrimination suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a 54-year-old man who was passed over for a full-time job in favor of younger applicants.

“This case took longer than I originally expected,” said Christopher Slater, now 65, who sued Orange County in 1980 alleging age discrimination.

“I’m happy but I just hope that this will deter the county from future discrimination.”

County officials could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

In 1976, Slater, then 54, applied for a personnel analyst position that carried a minimum requirement of two years’ experience, according to Judith A. Keeler, district director of the Los Angeles equal employment commission.

Slater, a former personnel manager for General Motors in Michigan and for Burroughs Corp. in Mission Viejo, had more than 25 years’ experience in the personnel field when he applied for the county analyst post, he said.

It was a lower-level position than he was accustomed to, but Slater said he took it “with the idea that because of my experience, I felt that I could work my way up.”

The county, however, refused to hire him permanently, and instead placed him in a temporary job, Keeler said.

“With my experience they only placed me in this limited-term position. And although other full-time positions opened up, they only offered me a limited position,” said Slater, who has since retired and moved to Fort Orange, Fla.

In 1977, when the county had another vacancy for the same job, Slater applied but was not hired, Keeler said.

The county hired a 36-year-old applicant who scored 85% on a job examination, compared to Slater’s score of 91%, Keeler said.

In the meantime, Slater was laid off from his temporary position in 1978.

“I was the only one over 40, the only one on limited term and the only one laid off. It (the alleged discrimination) was so cut and dried,” he said.

A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled on July 30, 1985, that the county was liable for age discrimination against Slater and ordered it to pay him seven years’ back pay with interest. After delays, a judgment of about $260,000 was entered in 1987.

The county filed an appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco, but agreed to settle the case before the hearing, said Tomas Olmos, equal employment commission regional attorney in Los Angeles.

Under terms of the settlement, Slater will receive $130,000 in cash immediately and then about $2,240 a month for the rest of his life, an award based on a life expectancy of about 73 years, Olmos said.

Olmos said the case was significant because age discrimination cases are difficult to prove and also because Orange County “fought us every step of the way.”

“The problem with age discrimination cases is that they must be filed in court within two years of the actual action and employers rarely cooperate by giving us any evidence,” Olmos said.

“I think it was only the persistence of this agency that we were finally able to reach this successful result. But it was not easy.”

Slater, who is single, said he spends his retirement doing a lot of fishing.

When asked about the settlement, he gave a hearty laugh and replied: “Sounds good, doesn’t it?

“I felt that it was such an obvious case of discrimination and when I told the EEOC they agreed and the courts agreed. This has been dragging on for a long time, but I’m glad it’s over,” he said.

“Even now, when I think about it, it does get to me and makes me angry.”