The agency responsible for investigating complaints of discriminatory hiring practices is suing a mountain shuttle service for alleged age discrimination in violation of federal law.

Telluride Express provides rides to two southwestern Colorado airports and charter service for those in the Telluride area. On Nov. 5, 2015, Chester Webber reported to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that Telluride Express denied him a job because of his age, 79. The job description at the time required applicants be at least 25 years old, have a federally-compliant physical exam, and have no more than two driver violations or accidents within the past three years.

Despite his five decades of commercial driving experience and with no violations during the three-year period, the EEOC wrote, a Telluride Express supervisor told Webber that “the company’s commercial auto insurance policy would not cover him as a driver because he was too old.”

Shortly afterward, the EEOC investigated and issued a “letter of determination” to the company, finding that there was a reason to believe that discrimination had occurred. The commission stated in the lawsuit filed on Tuesday that efforts to work with the transit operator to address the matter were unsuccessful, even after a second attempt in 2019. 

The insurance policy that Telluride Express had purchased from Philadelphia Insurance Companies covered drivers from age 25 to age 74, but stated that anyone age 75 years or older was “[i]neligible to drive passenger transportation vehicles.” Anyone over 80 could not drive any company vehicle.

“The effect of Telluride Express’s actions has been to deprive Chester Webber of equal employment opportunities and otherwise adversely affected his status as an applicant for employment because of his age,” the EEOC wrote.

The commission is asking for a court to order Telluride Express and its parent company, San Miguel Mountain Ventures LLC, to put into place nondiscriminatory policies and to compensate Webber for back wages. The company did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

EEOC complaint