DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A doctor fired from his job at Woodward Resource Center after eight days on the job has been awarded $340,000 by a Polk County jury in an age-discrimination case.
Dr. Zane Hurkin, 81, of Clive, filed a lawsuit in 2010 after his dismissal from the center for the mentally disabled.
His attorney, Jill Zwagerman, said Thursday he was asked age-related questions during his job interview and wasn’t provided adequate training when he was hired. She also says Hurkin was paid thousands of dollars less than his posted pay grade.
Court documents say the pay scale for the job was between $162,843 and $231,608. However, he was paid $105,000 a year.
Hurkin alleged he “was subjected to discriminatory treatment and harassment due to his age, was denied at least one of his job responsibilities, was refused training, had his hours and pay reduced, was paid unequally, and was terminated.”
In the award announced Wednesday, the jury found he was entitled to $140,000 in lost wages and $200,000 for past and future emotional distress.
“He’d been practicing for about 55 years and when he got fired from that job it just devastated him,” Zwagerman said. “He suffered through some pretty significant depression and had to seek medical treatment for it to try to get back on his feet.”
Hurkin voluntarily surrendered his medical license in July 2011 after developing health issues.
The Iowa attorney general’s office, which represented the state-run Woodward center, has not made a decision on whether to appeal.
“We’re reviewing our options, said spokesman Geoff Greenwood.
The center’s Supt. Marsha Edgington-Bott also did not immediately return a call.
