In a recent court filing, Michael Rohl has lodged a complaint against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the PA State System of Higher Education, alleging age discrimination and retaliation. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on May 20, 2024.
Michael Rohl, who resides in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, initiated this legal action against his former employer, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education. The complaint details that Rohl began his tenure as a men’s and women’s cross country, track, and field coach at Mansfield University on September 10, 2001. Despite receiving excellent performance reviews and being well-regarded by his student-athletes, Rohl claims he faced age-based harassment and discrimination following the hiring of a new head track and field coach in the summer of 2020.
The newly appointed head coach, Jamal Johnson, aged 29 at the time, along with Athletic Director Peggy Carl, allegedly began to create a hostile work environment for Rohl. According to the complaint, Carl expressed preferences for "younger" coaches with "more energy" who could "better relate to kids," signaling an end to long-term coaching careers at the university. This sentiment was echoed through various forms of harassment including ridicule on social media and email communications.
Rohl's attempts to address these issues with Carl were met with dismissive remarks suggesting that coaching was a “young man’s game” and advising him to seek employment elsewhere due to being “set in his ways.” On February 13, 2022, Rohl formally reported this age-related discrimination to Joshua Battin from the human resources department. However, just minutes after filing his complaint, Carl was informed about it and subsequently recommended that Rohl's contract not be renewed.
By April 23, 2022—just days before the deadline for non-renewal notices—Rohl was notified that his contract would not be renewed without any given reason. This decision came despite no prior discussions or emails indicating such an outcome before Carl's recommendation on April 15. The official termination date set for June 23, 2024 left Rohl approximately eight months short of retirement eligibility.
Further compounding his grievances were subsequent negative performance reviews issued by Defendant based on alleged below-average results from the cross-country program—a stark contrast to younger coaches who received satisfactory evaluations despite similar or worse performances.
Rohl contends that these actions constitute violations under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), specifically citing disparate treatment (Count I), retaliation (Count II), and harassment (Count III). He seeks compensatory damages including lost wages and benefits, front pay damages for emotional distress and pain suffering liquidated damages reasonable attorney fees costs along with any other relief deemed appropriate by court
Representing Michael Rohl is attorney Joshua J. Cochran from Schemery Zicolello law firm while presiding over case is Judge whose name not provided Case ID is No:4:24-cv-00830-MWB