$1.5 Million Settlement in Age Discrimination Lawsuit Against Whidbey Health

August 03, 2019

Albert Law represented physician James Elbaor M.D., who was rejected for an open position as an orthopedic surgeon when he was 72. Dr. Elbaor was a highly qualified candidate who was educated and trained at Harvard and Columbia universities. He served as commanding officer of a U.S. Army Medical detachment and performed tens of thousands of surgeries in private practice.

During litigation, Albert Law uncovered numerous emails written by Whidbey Health’s former management, which referenced Dr. Elbaor’s age while recommending against hiring him. Albert Law also obtained testimony from a former Whidbey Health physician recruiter who testified Whidbey Health management told him Dr. Elbaor was too old.

After two years of tough litigation and flights all across the country, the parties settled the case for $1.5m, which is the largest settlement or verdict reported by Thompson Reuters for a failure-to-hire age discrimination case in Washington State. Whidbey Health and its attorneys litigated the case hard but with integrity. The managers allegedly responsible no longer work for the organization.