D.C. Water and Sewer Authority Pays to Settle Age Discrimination Claim

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) will pay nearly $217,000 and provide other relief to settle an age discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

In a recent statement announcing the settlement, the EEOC outlined the details of the suit, which the EEOC filed in September 2025.

The complaint alleges that DC Water fired a high-performing and experienced older member of its HR department, replacing him with a “substantially younger and less qualified candidate, one of multiple terminations of older workers in the department,” according to the EEOC.

The agency also asserted that DC Water terminated this employee “while violating its own policies on performance notification, progressive discipline and internal appeals.”

The conduct the EEOC described in the complaint violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which prohibits discrimination based on age for those 40 years of age or older.

The consent decree resolving the litigation prohibits future age discrimination and requires DC Water to take affirmative steps to prevent such unlawful conduct, in addition to paying nearly $217,000 in monetary relief.

According to the EEOC, this includes implementation of enhanced non-discrimination policies, notices to employees about their rights and advanced training for DC Water’s HR and management officials concerning federal law prohibiting discrimination, the company’s relevant non-discrimination and complaint policies, and the officials’ respective obligations under these policies.

“Older employees are too often targets of unfounded or stereotyped assumptions, from lack of tech savvy to slower pace of work,” said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Philadelphia District, in a statement.

“Older workers, like all workers, are entitled to be judged fairly on their own merits, and employers who target older workers for adverse action based on their age—or age-related assumptions—will hear from the EEOC.”