KANSAS CITY, Mo. — AT&T will pay a former employee $250,000 as part of a settlement of an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The EEOC says Terry Pierce was 53-years old when she was fired because of her age in the fall of 2008. Pierce had been employed by the company for 16 years as sales coach manager. The EEOC says while AT&T let Pierce go, they retained younger, lower-performing sales coach managers or allowed them to transfer.

The EEOC filed a lawsuit on behalf of Pierce, but the two sides settled before trial. In addition to the monetary relief, the company agreed to redistribute its anti-discrimination policy with a message from its EEO director reaffirming the company’s commitment to the policy; provide anti-discrimination training; and report to the EEOC on complaints of age discrimination and
terminations of persons over 40.

“Age discrimination is a serious problem, especially in times of economic downturn,” said Barbara A. Seely, Regional Attorney of the EEOC’s St. Louis District Office. “Not only do victims of age bias lose their jobs unjustly, they often are unable to find new jobs for the same reason.”

At the time of her departure, Pierce worked out of the Lee’s Summit, Mo. facility.

In a statement Friday, AT&T said the following about the settlement:

“AT&T is a nationally recognized leader in diversity and inclusion, something in which we take great pride. We do not tolerate discrimination of any sort, including that based on age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, national origin or sexual orientation, and we have steadfastly denied the allegations in this case. We’re glad to have finally reached a settlement resolving this matter,” the spokesperson said.