PAGO PAGO, American Samoa » An age discrimination lawsuit against the American Samoan government has been settled.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced today that the result will be the reinstatement of government workers who were ousted because of their age, as well as a process to prevent age discrimination in the future.

The EEOC claimed that American Samoa government workers were allegedly forced into retirement or reassigned into undesirable positions to create jobs for younger Samoan workers in a widespread campaign in 2009. The campaign targeted employees over the age of 50.

The government has agreed to create a reinstatement process for employees over the age of 40 who were terminated or forced into retirement. It also will appoint a compliance overseer and provide training on age discrimination laws to prevent future abuses.