ST. LOUIS — A longtime former professor at St. Charles Community College has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the school discriminated against him because of his age when it stopped allowing him to teach courses he had instructed for more than a decade.
The college removed 82-year-old Harold Berry from his longtime History of Film classes and reassigned them to a younger instructor without explaining, according to the Nov. 14 complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
According to the lawsuit, Berry began working at the institution in 1987, when it was known as St. Charles County Community College, and continued through its transition into what is now St. Charles Community College.
Over the years, Berry served in multiple roles, including professor of History and Theater, as well as Department Chair of the History, Political Science and Geography Department.
The complaint states he also directed plays for the college’s Theater Department and wrote the initial curriculum for several academic areas: History, Political Science, Geography, Theater and Speech.
Berry holds master’s degrees in History, Mass Communications and Theater.
Berry retired as a full professor in July 2013 and became a Professor Emeritus, but the filing says he continued teaching regularly after retirement.
In the fall of 2013, he taught three classes and then continued teaching two sections of History of Film each fall, two more each spring, and one section each summer.
According to the complaint, he taught these courses consistently through the spring semester of 2024. The filing notes that the classes were popular, had never been cancelled and that Berry consistently received positive reviews from students.
The lawsuit states that in 2024, the Dean of Humanities emailed Berry to inform him that his History of Film class for the summer term was being cancelled.
Berry alleges he was not given a reason for the decision. According to the complaint, the college continued offering the History of Film class despite telling Berry it was being cancelled, but it no longer permitted him to teach it for the Summer and Fall 2024 semesters or the Spring 2025 semester.
Berry alleges that the college instead assigned a younger instructor to teach the course.
Berry claims in the filing that these actions constituted discrimination based on age in violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.
He asserts that the college “discriminated against Plaintiff because of his age” and that it has a broader “history of discriminating against older workers because of their age,” including what he describes as a “pattern and practice” of discrimination.
According to the complaint, the college “knowingly and intentionally” engaged in conduct that resulted in both disparate treatment and disparate impact on older employees, including Berry.
The lawsuit notes that Berry filed an age discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on March 3 and subsequently received a right-to-sue notice.
The filing states that Berry has suffered economic harm, including lost wages, lost benefits, out-of-pocket costs and additional monetary losses.
It further claims he has suffered non-economic damages. Berry argues that the college’s actions were carried out with reckless indifference to his federally protected rights, entitling him to punitive and exemplary damages.
Berry’s complaint seeks a jury trial and asks the court to award back pay, front pay, lost benefits, compensatory damages, punitive damages, liquidated damages and other relief permitted under the ADEA. He is represented by Kevin J. Kasper and Ryan P. Schellert of Kasper Law Firm in St. Charles.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division case number: 4:25-cv-01682