A St. Louis jury on Thursday ordered Washington University to pay $732,000 to a former employee who said the school pushed them out because of age, a verdict that lands as a sharp warning shot for big employers across the region.
Jurors returned the $732,000 award after concluding the university unlawfully treated the worker based on age, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The paper's June 18 coverage detailed the jury's decision and provided context from the trial.
What the law covers
The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act forbids treating applicants or employees 40 and older less favorably, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Missouri law also bans age-based discrimination at work and allows employees to file complaints with the state human-rights agency, the Missouri Department of Labor. Legal remedies in these cases can include back pay along with damages for emotional harm.
What comes next
Washington University can still seek post-trial relief and may appeal the verdict. Judges sometimes trim or overturn sizable awards on review, as happened when a court struck an $83 million punitive award in a recent age discrimination case, HR Dive reported. Any post-trial motions or an appeal could ultimately change how much the university has to pay.
Why it matters locally
The ruling adds another entry to a growing list of headline-grabbing workplace verdicts in the St. Louis area and highlights the financial risks employers face when personnel disputes end up in front of a jury. Comparable multimillion-dollar awards in the region have already turned heads, including a case where a jury hit St. Louis County for $6.2 million. For campus leaders and HR departments, the WashU verdict is likely to trigger fresh reviews of hiring, promotion and documentation practices.
