ST. LOUIS - Walgreens wants to go to federal court to fight the lawsuit brought by a former employee of the Hazelwood pharmacy who says she was discriminated against her because of her age.
According to documents filed late last year in the St. Louis County Circuit Court, plaintiff Wendy Lyn McCoy worked as a pharmacist for the Walgreens starting in 2015. The company on April 1 removed the case to federal court.
In 2018, the higher position of pharmacy manager became open. McCoy, who is more than 50 years old, says the position was given to a younger female.
In 2019, the position opened up again, and McCoy again accuses Walgreens of choosing a younger, less qualified female for the role.
McCoy says the company also retaliated against her when she voiced her concern that she wasn't being treated fairly because of her age; she says that her management told her "she should just stop applying for manager positions" and eventually terminated her.
Walgreens is charged with age discrimination/failure to hire for both instances that the position was open, gender discrimination and retaliation/termination.
McCoy requests at least $25,000 in damages and is represented by Ponder Zimmermann LLC of St. Louis.