Age discrimination alleged in lawsuit against company

A Hauser, Idaho, man who was fired by a Post Falls manufacturer claims that age discrimination figured into his dismissal. The Seattle office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Robert Zychek, who was 59 when he lost his job in 2003 at flexcel Inc.The suit names flexcel and its parent company, Kimball International. Formerly known as Harpers, flexcel makes office furniture.

Zychek was hired at flexcel in 1994, according to a separate suit he filed against the company. He worked in production in welding, assembly, machine set-up and operation, the suit said. Zychek said he asked numerous times for computer training to move to non-production tasks, but was given only cursory computer instruction and was passed over for promotions. The promotions went to younger people, the suit said.

Zychek lost his job in April 2003, according to the suit, even though he had “seniority,” positive evaluations and a good attendance record. Six employees from the fabrication department lost their jobs, the suit said. Five were 40 years old or older, according to information in the lawsuit.

The company’s attorney, Mischelle Fulgham, denied the allegations in court documents. Flexcel did not discriminate against Zychek because of his age, and the company does not have unlawful employment practices, she said. Fulgham did not return a call Thursday seeking comment.

Zycheck has withdrawn his suit against flexcel, but is pursuing the complaint through the EEOC lawsuit.

The EEOC suit seeks back pay for Zycheck, plus interest and damages in an amount to be determined at trial.