LV woman wins her age bias lawsuit

Grace Leong

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 | 10:53 a.m.

A Las Vegas company has agreed to pay $130,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of a receptionist who said she was called an "old bag" and fired because of her age, a federal agency said Monday.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on behalf of Helena Vece, a former Alpha Engineering Co. receptionist, had sued the engineering and construction services company, headquartered at 50 S. Jones Blvd., in June 2001 in federal court after efforts to reach a settlement failed.

The suit alleged Alpha Engineering violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 -- which protects workers aged 40 and older from age-based retaliation and discrimination -- when its office manager, Karen Liedkie and vice president, Richard" Clay" Vertrees, allegedly told Vece she was "menopausal" and referred to her as an "old bag," "old dog" and "old mutt" on a daily basis.

The suit said Vece, who was hired by Alpha in 1997, was also told she was "too old" and "too dumb" to do anything but clean floors, and was fired in July 1999 at the age of 53.

Gregory McClinton, an EEOC attorney, said the settlement includes payment of $130,000 in damages and back pay to Vece and a three-year consent decree that's subject to approval by a U.S. District Court judge.

"Under the consent decree, Alpha has to agree to not harass other workers who are over the age of 40, hire an EEO consultant to revamp (its) employee handbook and develop a written procedure for the reporting and investigation of claims of discrimination or retaliation," he said. "Alpha management are also required to go for sensitivity training and management training in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act."

Alpha Engineering and its attorney could not be reached for comment on the allegations or the settlement.