TEXARKANA, Texas -- Gregg Orr Auto will pay more than $325,000 to a former employee who claims he was terminated due to his age and the cost of his cancer treatment.
The settlement follows a suit that was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of William Dykes.
The suit claims Dykes was fired in February 2020 after he received billing statements for a surgery related to his cancer treatment. He was 65.
"The suit alleged that Gregg Orr Auto knew the company would be exposed to the employee's ongoing health care expenses under its self-insured employee health care plan and therefore replaced him with a significantly younger worker in his mid-30s," a release from the EEOC states.
Gregg Orr Auto settled the suit outside of court, agreeing to pay Dykes $325,000. The company maintains the payment is not an admission of guilt.
"As part of the consent decree settling the case, Gregg Orr Auto agreed to update its anti-discrimination policies and to provide its upper management with training on disability and age discrimination," the EEOC release states.
Calls to Greg Orr Auto's attorney of record on the case, Louise Tausch, were not returned as of presstime.