By Matt Glynn
The Buffalo News
CLARENCE, N.Y. — The Town of Clarence and four volunteer fire companies have settled a class age discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that will result in payments totaling more than $441,000 to firefighters or their beneficiaries.
The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that the town and four fire companies refused to let volunteer firefighters older than 62 accrue service credit under their “Length of Service Award Programs,” or LOSAPs — the equivalent of a retirement pension — because of their age.
The suit further charged that one of the four defendants, the East Amherst Fire Protection District and Fire Department, prohibited volunteer firefighters over the age of 55 from accruing credit. As a result, the senior firefighters kept working but did not receive credit for their service once they reached the maximum age.
The EEOC said the age restriction violated the Age Discrimination and Employment Act, a federal law protecting workers 40 and older from age discrimination.
Retroactive payments will be made to 35 firefighters, including beneficiaries for eight who are deceased. Individual payments range from $1,380 to $36,660, according to court documents. Several firefighters will also receive increased monthly pension amounts going forward, the agency said.
The defendants did not admit liability in the settlement. Along with the town and the East Amherst Fire Protection District and Fire Department, the defendants were: the Clarence Center Fire Protection District and Volunteer Fire Company; Harris Hill Fire Protection District and Volunteer Fire Company; and Swormville Fire Protection District and Volunteer Fire Company.
While the town administers the LOSAPs, the $441,740 for the settlement will technically come from the four fire protection districts, said Supervisor Scott A. Bylewski.
The fire companies amended their LOSAPs in January 2006 to allow firefighters to continue to earn award credit without regard to age, the EEOC said. But it said they did not credit those firefighters for the years in which they had lost out, between 1992 and the end of 2005.
The agency filed suit in March in U.S. District Court after attempting to reach a prelitigation agreement, following an investigation by the EEOC’s Buffalo office.
“We are pleased the firefighters will finally receive the compensation they are rightfully due for their years of firefighting and bravery,” said Elizabeth Grossman, EEOC regional attorney for the New York District Office, in a statement.
Bylewski said the town agreed to the settlement to avoid “costly and lengthy litigation” with government agencies on both sides of the case.
When Clarence adopted the LOSAP plans, it was following limitations required by the state General Municipal Law, “unaware that several years later the EEOC would assert that this requirement of the state law was in violation of the Age Discrimination and Employment Act,” Bylewski said.
The town did not intend to discriminate against older firefighters and is pleased the firefighters will be awarded service credit they were not previously entitled to under restrictions in state law, Bylewski said.
But it was “unfortunate that the EEOC has elected to pursue a litigation strategy that targets local towns and villages who were simply trying to comply with a state law,” he said.
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