The restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is paying $575,000 to settle a federal age discrimination lawsuit over five locations in Pennsylvania and one in Ohio.
The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced the settlement on Monday. The EEOC had alleged that the company engaged in age discrimination against job applicants 40 years of age or older.
As part of the settlement, the restaurant chain also agreed to implement new hiring and monitoring practices that would workers who are 40 or older equal employment opportunities.
Ruby Tuesday is based in Maryville, Tenn., and it strongly denied wrongdoing in the case.
The EEOC filed the lawsuit in 2009. The restaurants were located in West Mifflin, Greensburg, Altoona, Du Bois, and Indiana, Pa., and in Beachwood, Ohio.
Philadelphia EEOC attorney Debra M. Lawrence says they're pleased Ruby Tuesday agreed to work on a comprehensive settlement.
"In addition to the monetary compensation for the class members, the extensive training and equitable measures are designed to improve recruitment and hiring of older workers and protect all applicants from age discrimination," Lawrence said.
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Ruby Tuesday says it settled the lawsuit to reduce business disruption and avoid litigation costs.
As part of the settlement, the company has also agreed to evaluate the job performance of workers who have hiring authority at the six stores names in the suit. Their future compensation will be based, in part, on how successful they are in helping Ruby Tuesday meet its recruitment and hiring goals for people who are 40 or older.
