On Tuesday a case was filed in the Southern District of Ohio by a former employee against Centene Management Company LLC. The case is regarding disability and age discrimination in the workplace.
The plaintiff was hired by Centene Managed health care as a Product Data Manager in 2016. The plaintiff was over 50 at the time of her employment. In June of 2020, the plaintiff received a new supervisor, who is under the age of 50. The plaintiff alleges that her new supervisor did not approve of her age and began treating her in a hostile manner, including reducing her duties to phone work only, comparing her unfavorably with younger colleagues, providing unfavorable work assignments as well as subjecting her to hostile questioning. The plaintiff reported her supervisor to the employee ethics hotline, however no interview or other action was taken.
The plaintiff, according to the complaint, also suffers from mental health conditions including depression which were made known to the employer at the time of hiring. The plaintiff made a Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation request in light of the age discrimination to be transferred to a different supervisor which the employer denied. The plaintiff eventually went on leave due to the stress of the situation and was terminated, allegedly in violation of the ADA and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
The plaintiff is suing for disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, age discrimination, and retaliation. They are represented by the Spitz Law Firm, LLC.
