Brentwood FD to pay $465G in age suit

The Brentwood Fire District and its fire department have agreed to pay $465,000 to settle a class age discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday.

The EEOC's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charged that "between 1990 and 2004, the Brentwood Fire District and Brentwood Fire Department prohibited volunteer firefighters over age 62 from accruing credit toward a 'length of service award,' the equivalent of a retirement pension, because of their age," according to an agency news release.

That policy meant that senior firefighters kept working but did not receive credit for their service after age 62, the release said.

The EEOC said the policy violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, a federal law that aims to protect workers 40 and older from age discrimination.

The agreement eliminates the Brentwood district's age restriction on service credit, mandates training for the people responsible for implementing the program and institutes an anti-discrimination policy.

The 28 volunteer firefighters who had been barred from receiving credit for their service because of their age will receive retroactive payments, the agency said.

The settlement also allows for an increased monthly pension payment to 20 of the firefighters who are still alive, the release said.

Federal attorney Adela Santos said the Brentwood policy penalized older firefighters who continued to perform their duties, "and that was a violation of federal law."

EEOC acting regional attorney Judy Keenan said in the news release that volunteer firefighters "didn't deserve discrimination in return for their hard work and brave service."