A 75-year-old man is suing an Oregon school district, claiming his age was the reason he wasn’t hired to be a varsity girls’ basketball coach.
Jack Ball was applying for a position with the Riddle School District, according to The Oregonian. He was 73 when he applied for the position in October 2015.
Ball, who has been coaching a range of sports since the 60s, including a recent stint as a head football coach at a neighboring district, says he spoke to someone by phone at the school, but was never interviewed for the position.
Ultimately, the school hired someone else, who Ball claims was much less experienced than him.
Riddle School District superintendent Dave Giannoti told The Oregonian that Ball has served as a volunteer coach in multiple sports in the district in the past, but said that the job was filled “based on the needs of the students and the merits of the applicants.”
“Many factors were considered in our hiring decision, but age was in no way a consideration,” Giannoti told The Oregonian.
The lawsuit seeks $200,000 in damages, claiming he’s due back wages for being denied the job, and arguing that being rejected from the position has harmed his coaching reputation.
