CHICAGO (WAND) — Urbana School District No. 116 has agreed to pay $206,301 as part of the settlement for an age discrimination lawsuit.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that the Urbana School District limited the salary increases of Charles Koplinski and a group of other teachers over the age of 45 because of their age, due to a provision of a collective bargaining agreement between the school district and the union representing teachers, Urbana Education Association IEA-NEA.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits discrimination because of age against individuals who are age 40 or over, including discrimination with respect to compensation.
On Nov. 7, 2023, the Central District of Illinois granted summary judgment to the EEOC, holding that the collective bargaining agreement provision violated the ADEA by limiting the compensation of teachers age 45 and older because of their age. In addition, the court ordered the district to pay lost wages to a group of 32 affected teachers whose compensation the district did not dispute had been limited by the collective bargaining agreement provision.
The court approved a consent decree resolving the litigation on Apr. 17, 2024. Forty teachers who were affected by the collective bargaining agreement provision will receive lost wages.
“This suit should serve as a lesson to Illinois school districts that they cannot try to limit TRS contributions by capping salary increases for older teachers based on their age,” said Gregory Gochanour, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Chicago District Office. “Federal law prohibits paying teachers over and under the age of 40 differently based on age, just as it prohibits paying women less men or paying workers differently based on race or national origin.”
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