A worker said his boss froze him out over his age. The records told a different story
A worker in his early 70s cried age discrimination. His employer's paper trail won the day.
A self-represented engineer was certain he had been pushed out of his job because of his age. On June 4, 2026, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia disagreed - and the reasons read like a field guide for any HR team handling casual conversion.
Tadeusz Stec worked as a casual calibration technician at a metering and calibration laboratory run by Utilities Management Pty Ltd, in suburban Adelaide. He started in October 2022, aged 71, on a casual contract paying $46.10 an hour. He had been brought in to temporarily fill the spot of a permanent employee who was away on field work.
For most of his time there, Stec worked close to full-time hours. When his one-year anniversary came around in October 2023, he told his supervisor he wanted to go permanent. According to the judgment, the supervisor responded with words to the effect of, "come on now, what do you mean, aren't you 72 and haven't you already retired once?" Stec read that as proof of bias. The supervisor said it was meant as a joke - he thought Stec was joking too - and that he immediately told the room the business was an equal opportunity employer.
Stec built his entire case on that moment and what followed. He alleged the company refused to make him permanent because of his age, cut his hours to punish him for asking, coerced...
NeoGenomics Laboratories Inc. (NeoGenomics), located in Florida, has agreed to pay $9,813,260 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by providing below fair market value cons...