Sep. 23, 2003 - AFTON, Okla. -- A former Shangri-La Resort employee who claims she was denied a job transfer and promotion because a male supervisor believed the woman was "too old and grumpy" has been awarded $75,000 in a settlement involving the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The money goes to Judith Chancellor, now 60, whom the EEOC charged was a victim of age discrimination.

Chancellor was a bartender and cashier in a Shangri-La lounge in the spring of 2001 when she was recommended for a hostess position in a resort restaurant.

A former human resources manager at the resort testified in a deposition to hearing the statement "too old and grumpy" used by a resort general manager in reference to Chancellor, according to the commission.

Chancellor, then 58, was discharged July 4, 2001.

KL Shangri-La Owners LP, operator of Shangri-La Resort, denied violating any federal law.

"Shangri-La maintains a fair and nondiscriminatory workplace," said Dallas attorney Jim Birch, who represented the resort in dealings with the commission.

"Its policies always prohibit unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age or qualified disability. We were prepared to vigorously defend against those charges. We denied those allegations," Birch said Monday.

The settlement was reached before a trial that was scheduled later this year in Tulsa federal court.

"This was an employee who was competent and really well liked by other Shangri-La employees," commission attorney Susanne Anderson in Dallas said of Chancellor.

The case "is an example of how a supervisor allowed myths about older workers to influence his employment decision -- which the Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits," said Robert A. Canino, the commission's regional attorney in Dallas.

Employers "must understand their responsibilities under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and work diligently to see that the stereotypes regarding older employees are eliminated from the workplace," commission trial attorney Michelle M. Robertson said in Oklahoma City.

Under an agreement with the commission, Shangri-La will provide training to supervisors, managers and employees regarding age discrimination and other discrimination laws.

Shangri-La will inform employees of the complaint procedure for any individuals who believe they have experienced discrimination.

The resort also has agreed to post a notice defining and prohibiting discrimination, informing employees of their rights under federal law and establishing a new procedure for employees to report discrimination to the resort's human relations department and to the commission.

Shangri-La will be subject to the commission's reporting provisions.

Chancellor currently is a waitress in a Grove steakhouse.

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