Johnson County library worker suffered age discrimination and was fired, lawsuit says
A 63-year-old Lenexa man has sued Johnson County claiming he was fired from his job with Johnson County Library in retaliation for filing an age discrimination complaint.
In a lawsuit filed last month in U.S. District Court in Kansas, Dean Allman says he was demoted and later fired after he filed an age discrimination complaint.
Jody Hanson, Johnson County’s director of public affairs and communications, said the county doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.
According to the suit, Allman was hired by Johnson County Library in June 2007 as assistant facilities manager.
In the fall of 2018, a fellow employee allegedly began discriminating against Allman by making offensive comments about his age. The co-worker allegedly mocked Allman about his age and would say Allman was old or that he should retire, the lawsuit says.
Allman says the co-worker’s comments were unwelcome and highly offensive.
The “unrelenting comments were frequent and pervasive enough to create an abusive and hostile work environment,” Allman says in the lawsuit.
Jennifer Mahnken, associate director of branch services, also allegedly made age-related remarks about older workers in Allman’s presence, he contends. One involved Mahnken asking Allman if a co-worker in his 70s was “losing his mind” and should retire. Allman took the context of the comments as applying to him too.
In mid-October 2018, Allman complained to Patricia Suellentrop, deputy county librarian, and David Davis Sr., human resources representative, about the alleged discrimination and harassment. A month later, Allman was demoted in what he contends was retaliation for complaining about the harassment.
On May 29, 2019, he sent an email to Davis, Mahnken and Mike Heffernan, facilities manager, complaining about age discrimination that allegedly continued.
The next day, County Librarian Sean Casserley had Allman’s supervisor issue a performance improvement plan, which he successfully completed. Allman contends this was in retaliation for his complaint, according to the suit.
In July 2019, Casserley issued a notice of disciplinary action asserting that Allman failed to adequately and appropriately manage staff. On September 19, 2019, Allman was terminated from his position.
Allman is seeking, among other things, an unspecified amount for lost wages, employment benefits and other compensation. He is also seeking to be re-instated to the job of assistant facilities manager.
The Star’s Katie Bernard contributed to this report.
