EEOC Sues South Valley Care Center for Age Discrimination and Retaliation

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – South Valley Care Center, LLC, a long-term nursing care facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, violated federal law when it harassed and discriminated against older employees and retaliated against these workers when they complained, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed last week.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, older workers in the laundry department were harassed by their supervisor, including the supervisor making comments such as “You are too old now, you cannot get another job” and “You should be ashamed of yourself” for “[g]etting pregnant at 40 years old.” Older workers were also treated less favorably than younger workers, including not being provided the same number of breaks and not receiving their preferred schedules as younger workers. 

When older workers complained about age and national origin discrimination, South Valley failed to adequately address their complaints and fired at least two workers in retaliation for complaining. 

This alleged conduct violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibit discrimination and harassment based on age and retaliation for complaining about discrimination. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. South Valley Care Center, LLC, Case No. 1:25-cv-00569-JMR-KK) in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process. 

“Age discrimination continues to be a persistent problem in the workplace,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC. “Older workers are an essential part of the workforce, and the EEOC is committed to fighting for the rights of all workers, including vulnerable older workers.”

EEOC District Director Melinda Caraballo said, “Workers have a protected right to complain to their employer when they feel they have been discriminated against. Retaliation against workers for these kinds of complaints violates the law.”

For more 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 Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction over Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and parts of New Mexico.

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 is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. 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. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.