A Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in Coatesville, Chester County is being sued for allegedly discriminating against job applicants, including veterans, because of their age.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Thursday that it brought charges against the fast-food restaurant on behalf of several claimants, including two workers in their fifties who applied for work at the restaurant after getting a referral from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The restaurant's general manager allegedly told a vocational counselor for the VA not to bring him older applicants because "they don't work hard for me. They get tired easily."
Veterans Lula Wright-Hill, who was 54 when she applied for a job, and Kevin Bryant, then 58, were told the restaurant wasn't hiring after they gave their ages.
"It's absurd that Ms. Wright-Hill and Mr. Bryant were well able to serve our country in the military, but then when they sought to return to the civilian workforce, were wrongfully deemed too old to cook or serve chicken by Popeyes' general manager," said EEOC Philadelphia District Director Spencer H. Lewis Jr.
The EEOC also says that the general manager told another applicant, 40-year-old Leroy Keasley, that he was "too old" when he applied for a manager position.
The agency tried to reach a settlement with the restaurant but then filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Federal law makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against people older than 39 because of their age.