Gregg Orr Auto to Pay $325,000 to Resolve Disability and Age Discrimination Lawsuit

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Gregg Orr Auto Collection, Inc., a group of car dealerships, has agreed to pay $325,000 and provide other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit alleging that the Texarkana, Texas-based company fired a senior sales executive to avoid medical costs related to his cancer diagnosis, the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, Greg Orr Auto fired the 65-year-old employee in February 2020 without prior warning and informed him that his health insurance coverage would end, effective immediately. The EEOC contended this came shortly after the worker received billing statements for a costly surgery to treat a serious cancer. The suit alleged that Greg Orr Auto knew the company would be exposed to the employee's ongoing healthcare expenses under its self-insured employee health care plan and therefore replaced him with a significantly younger worker in his mid-30s.

Such conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which prohibit employers from discriminating based on disability or age (age 40 or older). The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Gregg Orr Auto Collection, Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-00097) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation resolution through its administrative conciliation process.

As part of the consent decree settling the case, Greg Orr Auto agreed to update its anti-discrimination policies and to provide its upper management with training on disability and age discrimination.

"This resolution underscores the EEOC's commitment to eliminating age and disability discrimination," said Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC's Birmingham District.

Birmingham District Director Bradley Anderson said, "The EEOC appreciates Greg Orr Auto's willingness to undertake significant training to ensure workers' rights are protected in the future."

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination-and-employment-decisions. For more information on age discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/age-discrimination.

The EEOC's Birmingham District Office is charged with enforcing federal employment discrimination laws in Alabama, Mississippi (except for 17 northern counties) and the Florida Panhandle.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.

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