78-year-old fired by manager who wanted to go in a ‘younger direction,’ lawsuit says

A 78-year-old man was promised he would always have a job with the town golf course “as long as he wanted one” before he was fired after working there for 18 years, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Maine.

Gary Rees, who worked as a seasonal golf professional at the Val Halla Golf Course in Cumberland, says he was fired over his age.

When the manager of the golf course, who is the head golf pro, fired Rees in January 2021, he told him that “Val Halla wanted to go in a ‘younger direction’ next season,” according to a complaint filed in federal court on Nov. 28.

Around the same time, Rees says two other older employees were fired as well.

Now he is suing the town of Cumberland, which operates the golf course, and is accusing it of violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 by firing him. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission granted Rees the right to sue in August, the complaint states.

“This is an extremely straightforward case that involves direct evidence of age discrimination,” Rees’ attorney Laura White told McClatchy News in a statement on Dec. 2. “It was also a painful way to end a long, successful career at Val Halla.”

McClatchy News has contacted Cumberland town manager William Shane, who Rees says previously promised he’d always have a job at Val Halla, for comment on Dec. 2.

‘Very hurt’ when he was fired

After Rees was fired, he wrote a letter to Shane, stating he was ““very hurt by the fact that I was told I was [too] old for the job,” according to the complaint.

Previously, Rees worked as Val Halla’s head golf pro between 1976-80, and again between 1984-92, according to the complaint.

By 2019, Rees, who was the only PGA professional at the course, worked as an assistant golf pro under Nick Plummer, who became the head golf pro and is about 40 years younger than Rees, according to the complaint.

“Plummer seemed to resent and demonstrated overt age-related bias toward the much older assistant golf pros who worked for him,” the complaint states.

At one point, Plummer told Rees: ‘I’ve got one of the oldest pro shops in the State,’” the complaint states.

McClatchy News contacted Plummer for comment on Dec. 2 and did not immediately receive a response.

‘Always enjoyed teaching golf lessons’

Ultimately, Plummer fired Rees and two other older workers before replacing them with staff members much younger than them, according to the complaint.

Rees says Plummer maintained the reason firing was a result of Rees not wanting to give anymore golf lessons. Rees contends this is “false” and that he “always enjoyed teaching golf lessons,” in the complaint.

With the lawsuit, he is seeking damages double the amount of the wages he lost after he was fired.

The town of Cumberland “took adverse employment action against Plaintiff as a direct and proximate result of his age,” the complaint states.

Rees demands a trial by jury.

Cumberland is about 10 miles north of Portland.

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