👩‍⚕️ Robbinsville school district agrees to settlement with fired nurse

👩‍⚕️ School administration cited budget cuts, documents said

👩‍⚕️ Younger nurses who cost the district more were not fired


ROBBINSVILLE — A school district in Mercer County has agreed to a six-figure settlement with a former nurse who claimed she lost her job due to her age.

Ruthann Jennings will get $82,000 from the settlement, John Paff with transparencynj.com first reported on Monday. Her attorney will earn $33,000, for a total of $115,000.

Court documents said she worked as a nurse for Robbinsville Public Schools for four full school years, from September 2019 to June 2023.

She was 63 years old when she was fired, the lawsuit said.

Jennings requested an explanation and received a letter from the superintendent, according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Mercer County in September 2023.

Robbinsville High School football field (Google Maps)
Robbinsville High School football field (Google Maps)
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It cited a lack of adequate state funding for the "painful cuts."

"I was told this decision is not based on job performance but was simply a matter of needing to come to a final number for reduction to meet the budget shortfall," the superintendent wrote.

However, the lawsuit said there were three young nurses with less experience and fewer certifications who worked for the district and were not fired.

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Jennings claimed that firing any of the other nurses instead of her would have resulted in greater savings for the district based on their salaries, benefits, and training requirements.

This violated the state's Law Against Discrimination, the lawsuit said.

The district did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which was reached last November.

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