NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Healthcare Management, Inc. (THM), a provider of administrative, purchasing, technology and human resources services to health care communities, will pay $200,000 and furnish other relief to settle a race, national origin, age discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC charged that THM refused to promote a highly qualified 58-year-old Asian American doctor and instead hired a younger white applicant who lacked the required credentials for the division director of research graduate medical education position in Kissimmee, Florida. When the doctor complained about the discrimination, he received write-ups and rebuke, and ultimately was fired in September 2021, the EEOC said.

“This case demonstrates that employers should evaluate and promote employees based on their merits and not race, national origin and age,” said Faye Williams, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Memphis District. “Further, under federal law, employees have the right to complain about alleged discrimination without fear of retaliation.”

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

EEOC Memphis District Director Delner Franklin-Thomas said, “Race, national origin, retaliation and age discrimination remain persistent problems in the workplace. The EEOC remains committed to fulfilling its statutory obligation of enforcing employment discrimination laws.”

The two-year consent decree settling the suit enjoins THM from failing to promote any employee within THM’s Graduate Medical Education research group because of the employee’s age, race or national origin in the future. Likewise, the decree prohibits the company from discharging any employee for participating in internal investigations or opposing discriminatory employment practices or because the employee filed a charge of discrimination with any state or federal agency, including the EEOC.

For more information on race and color discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination. For more information on national origin discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination. For information on age discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/age-discrimination. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s Memphis District Office has jurisdiction over Tennessee, Arkansas, and 17 counties in Northern Mississippi, with area offices in Nashville and Little Rock.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.