Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 30, 1993                   TAG: 9306300277
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TEACHER ALLEGES AGE BIAS IN FIRING

David Holmes, 59, claims that he is a victim of age discrimination.

"I was very surprised to learn suddenly in April of this year that I was being terminated after 31 years with no reason given except `reduction in work force,' " Holmes said.

The employment commission's regional office in Richmond, which received the complaint, would not comment on the investigation. But Holmes' attorney, Eileen Wagner of Richmond, said she received a letter from the Richmond office dated June 17 saying that an investigator had been assigned to the case.

Hollins' response to Holmes' charges was brief.

"During this period of restructuring, Hollins College recognizes that individual employees may feel personally aggrieved," said Linda Steele, Hollins' director of college relations. "Hollins College, however, does not comment publicly on individual grievances made by anyone employed by the college."

Holmes and other staff who asked not to be named say his dilemma is a reflection of hard financial times for Hollins. The college has been faced with a tight budget, resulting partly in the delay of a decision on faculty and staff salary raises until the fall, when the college has a better handle on 1993-94 enrollment.

"Hollins has been involved in a campus-wide process of reallocating resources in the most effective way so we can keep our cost down while maintaining quality," Steele said. "There have been some positions not filled when people left. Several administrative positions were eliminated to reduce duplication of effort among departments."

But Holmes maintains he has been asked to leave because the college is "financially strapped."

"The letter saying I would be terminated said `because we are reducing our work force' ," Holmes said. "That certainly goes hand in hand with saving money. I am only five or six years away from retirement. It's difficult to avoid the issue of age discrimination."

Though not a tenured faculty member, Holmes said he'd felt protected during his years by a promise of the equivalent of tenure.

Holmes taught for his first two years at Hollins, then moved to administration as associate dean for student academic affairs, a position he kept for 25 years. He continued to teach, spending one-third of his time in the classroom. Three years ago, he returned to teaching full time.

Holmes says he was told then that he would receive status of tenure equivalency until age 65 but never received official notification.

Without it, Holmes says, he was vulnerable.

"I didn't realize how important the promise of [tenure] had become," he said.

Holmes contended that the college violated procedure by not giving him a required one year's notice of termination. He was notified in April that his full-time employment would be terminated June 30.

That matter was resolved Tuesday, with Holmes receiving a "terminal" contract, allowing him to remain full time on the faculty for no longer than the 1993-94 academic year. The agreement does not, however, resolve Holmes' charge of age discrimination, Wagner said.