Minnesota Human Rights Department finds St. Paul dentist engaged in age discrimination

A fired business manager at a St. Paul dental clinic will get $54,000 in lost wages after the Minnesota Human Rights Department found she'd been unlawfully let go because of her age.

Kathleen Dahlstrom had worked for Natural Dental for nearly two decades when a new owner arrived in May 2018 with plans to create a "modern aesthetic" with younger workers, according to the state, which announced the settlement Thursday.

Owner Chue Cha made disparaging and ageist comments, investigators found, saying he "couldn't work with Kathleen — she's too old" and that she was "too old to learn new things."

Chue fired Dahlstrom in June 2018 claiming job performance shortcomings, despite giving her a favorable job review days earlier. Chue hired a replacement less than a week later who was 33 years younger, according to the state.

"Under Minnesota's Human Rights Act, you cannot fire someone because of age, and that's exactly what happened," Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said. "The owner made demeaning and age-related comments, and ultimately terminated her because of her age."

In an e-mailed statement, Chue denied Dahlstrom's allegations and said there was no merit to the Department of Human Rights' findings.

"Natural Dental denies that [it] discriminated against Dahlstrom based on her age, or that it violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act or any other law," the statement said. "Natural Dental is committed to equal employment opportunity for all individuals, and a workplace free from unlawful discrimination. It only reached a settlement in this matter to minimize the time, attorney fees, and costs that it would otherwise expend in addressing this dispute."

Chue was born and raised in California and completed his general practice residency at the University of Minnesota, according to his biography on the Natural Dental website.

In addition to a financial penalty, Chue and his employees must attend anti-discrimination and bias training. Natural Dental must create and implement its own anti-discrimination policies and post state-required workplace posters, including one on age discrimination.

"I am glad that I valued myself and spoke up," Dahlstrom, who had worked at the office since 1999, said in a statement. "This settlement will help me truly begin the healing process."

The Human Rights Department, the state's civil rights enforcement agency, did not reveal Dahlstrom's age, because it's irrelevant to the law, Lucero said.

"You can't use age as a factor in decisions in employment," she said. "Age discrimination can take place at all ages."

Increasingly, Minnesota's workplaces reflect an aging population where 1 in 5 residents will be 65 or older in less than a decade. Age and disability discrimination are among the top complaints the agency receives, Lucero said.

"All of us have to be intentional every day about making sure that our biases, actions, policies and practices are not perpetuating — in this situation, ageism — but any form of repression or discrimination," she said. "Long before discrimination occurs, we really want that culture where everyone can live and work with dignity every day."