A former head of special collections at Washington University filed a suit against the University claiming that age discrimination led to hostility and poor reviews from supervisors.

Anne Posega, the plaintiff, was let go from her position on Feb. 4, 2014, after over 20 years of working within the University libraries. According to court documents, under her leadership special collections grew dramatically with the addition of the film and media archive and the modern graphic history library. Storage needed to house special collections materials tripled.

Posega, then 50-years-old, alleges she was constructively discharged. A constructive discharge, defined by the United States Department of Labor, is when a worker is forced to resign due to a hostile work environment or other pressures.

Posega spent a large portion of her career working with Associate Dean of the University Libraries B.J. Johnson. When Johnson retired, Posega began to experience what she described as hostility from the younger managers.

“In a discriminatory manner, the younger, new university librarian, Jeffrey Trzeciak, began to systematically reduce Posega’s duties and areas of responsibility as head of special collections in favor of younger, less experienced library staff, under the guise of them being ‘emerging leaders’ even though Posega had just recently received strong reviews of her performance,” the complaint detailed.

According to official documents filed by Posega and her attorney, the situation escalated and manifested in various ways that led Posega to complain to multiple human resource and employee relations managers, only to be told to “change her mindset” by a superior. Posega was accused of having a bad attitude towards university donors and with faculty and alumni.

“Trzeciak engaged in [an] angry outburst at Posega in the workplace, all while not subjecting younger library staff to these same working conditions,” according to the document. “Posega was now forced to perform tasks at the libraries, far below her responsibilities and skill set as Head of Special Collections, all because of her age, then 50.”

Other details from the formal complaint include that Trzeciak wrongfully attempted to withhold Posega’s resume from a search committee looking to fill a vacant librarian position in 2013. It alleges that a younger, less experienced employee received the position, although Posega had “vastly more qualifications.”

The complaint states that Posega, for the first time in her 25-year career, took a leave of absence due to anxiety, depression and high blood pressure, all of which she did not experience prior to her her unpleasant experiences within the libraries. Posega then constructively discharged.

University administrators did not respond to requests to speak about the case, but vice chancellor for public affairs Jill Friedman issued a statement on behalf of the university:

“As this involves pending litigation, we cannot address the details of the case. However, more generally, we are proud of the University Libraries’ leadership in all forms of diversity—including gender, sexual orientation, race and age,” it reads.

Friedman said that no university administrators would share more information, due to the sensitivity of the situation.

“It is absolutely a standing and a very important policy that as a university, flat out, we do not address cases that involve litigation…Unfortunately when you find yourself in a situation like this you just become very limited in what you can say,” Friedman said.