Grocer settles suit claiming it fired 57-year-old with ‘Old lady... time for you to rest’
The owner of two Palm Beach County supermarkets paid $20,000 in back pay to a woman who claimed she was suddenly replaced with someone 20 years longer with “Old lady, what is it that you are looking for here . . . it’s time for you to rest.”
Angela Guerrero was 57 when Jumbo Supermarket fired her in 2017.
That’s according to the age discrimination suit filed on behalf of Guerrero by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
M1 5100, which owns Jumbo Supermarkets, denied the “time for you to rest” claim as it did most of the claims in its answer to the EEOC complaint.
Guerrero’s suit says she worked at the Jumbo at 5100 Lake Worth Rd. in June 2016, before the store opened, as a cook manager, responsible for, among other things, hiring in the cafeteria and cooking areas. Her direct supervisor was the store’s general manager, Julio Perez. Felipe Peralta assumed that position when Perez was transferred up the street, to the Jumbo at 5851 Lake Worth Rd.
The EEOC says when Guerrero came in to work one day and found her job was being done by someone 20 years younger, Peralta took her into his office, called her “old lady,” told her to take off her apron and it was time to rest. Or, the suit says Peralta offered, Guerrero could work under her replacement for less pay.
Perez happened to be visiting that day and offered Guerrero a transfer down to his Jumbo, the suit said. Guerrero accepted that, the suit said, only to find herself in a rerun — Peralta replaced Perez, then on March 6, 2017, replaced her without warning with someone 20 years her junior.
“Mr. Peralta told Ms. Guerrero something along the lines of, “Look, old lady, we have to give opportunities to new people. Old lady what is it that you are looking for here ... it’s time for you to rest.”
The suit also claimed Peralta gave Guerrero a termination letter in English to sign that said she was being fired for job performance. Guerrero refused to sign it because she has trouble reading English, then received a second termination letter in English and Spanish that did not mention job performance.
M1 5100 didn’t deny the termination letter issue by producing a copy from its company files, but said it didn’t know the accuracy of the accusation because the termination letter wasn’t attached to the EEOC complaint.
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