Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Former official files age lawsuit

The former director of the Pinellas County Extension and Florida Botanical Gardens says she was denied a promotion that went to a younger, less qualified person.

By JOSE CARDENAS
Published October 20, 2005

CLEARWATER - The former director of the Pinellas County Extension and Florida Botanical Gardens has filed a federal age-discrimination lawsuit against the county, saying she was denied a promotion that ended up going to someone less qualified.

In her suit, Judy Yates, 57, says she was denied the job of director of culture, education, parks and recreation in June 2003.

After she was passed over for the job, Yates filed an age-discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the suit says. She declined to follow up on that complaint, but she filed another this year claiming retaliation for the first complaint.

The suit says Yates filed the first complaint in response to harassment and retaliation that county administrators aimed at her.

County officials categorically denied the accusations in the suit, county spokeswoman Marcia Crawley said in an e-mailed response to the Times Wednesday.

Age was not a factor in Yates' termination, Crawley said.

The county fired Yates in January, but officials declined at the time to elaborate on why she was fired. They cited only a clash with county management.

"I was left with no options," Yates, who lives in Indian Rocks Beach, said Wednesday. "No reason was given for my termination. It was just "You're out of here.' "

The Pinellas County Extension is a cooperative effort between the county and the Food and Agricultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida. It provides programs to the public on agriculture, gardening and wildlife.

The botanical gardens opened in 2000 as part of the 182-acre Pinewood Cultural Park.

Yates had led the extension service for 23 years and the botanical gardens since its inception. UF and Pinellas County had each paid roughly half of her $100,000 salary.

In her suit, Yates says she has four degrees, including a doctorate in adult education from the University of South Florida, but was bypassed for the director's position. The position was given to Elizabeth Warren, who Yates said has only a master's degree and who had worked for the county for two years.

Crawley said Warren spent 14 years in the Sarasota Parks and Recreation Department in Sarasota County and had been hired in Pinellas in 2001 as parks director before she was promoted to the newly created position.

Crawley said Warren has a bachelor's degree in recreation from UF. "The factors contributing to her selection were her skills, knowledge, abilities and professional background," Crawley said in the e-mail.

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 01:19:18]