Bernie Hornick
bhornick@tribdem.com
JOHNSTOWN —
Carpal tunnel, back injuries, knee replacements and smoking don’t exactly go foot in boot with the vibrant, sexy image of a ski resort.
And two Champion women believe those shortcomings contributed to their dismissal by Seven Springs Mountain Resort last year. They recently filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the resort in U.S. District Court in Johnstown.
Jane E. Dively and Joanne Hartman say they – along with ski group coordinator John Hoover, who is not a party to the suit – were dismissed on March 30, 2009. The women were ski trip coordinators.
All are over 50 years of age.
The lawsuit recites a litany of their ailments.
One of the three, the petition said, “was obese with two knee replacements and who knows what was coming next, and none of them participated in sports activities, especially skiing.”
The women said management made clear they weren’t the type to attract young customers through statements including:
• “I don’t understand how you manage to keep so many groups coming back year after year.”
• And “Who would work at a ski resort and not ski.” But the women responded in the suit, saying that comment ignores the fact “that a bartender doesn’t have to drink to be suitable for employment.”
The two said the resort took away ski shows from them, hired young ski coordinators to be trained and gave them the shows to do.
The women initially took their case to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which did not find that any laws were violated.
Resort spokeswoman Anna Weltz said Seven Springs was aware of the lawsuit but has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
The plaintiffs are asking for back pay and to be reinstated to their former jobs.
