A jury awarded $982,500 to a former airport food and beverage manager who alleged he was fired because of his age. Fred Jackson held the position, in which he oversaw the restaurants, bars and retail stores at El Paso International Airport, for 17 years before he was fired in 2007 at the age of 57. His termination occurred just weeks after the city replaced Jackson's original employer with a different contractor, Host International Inc. Host contended it fired Jackson due to poor performance, but Jackson claimed his age was the real reason, noting that at the time he was let go, he was Host's oldest management employee in El Paso. He also contended that the airport ranked number one in a nation-wide customer satisfaction survey the year before he was fired (the rating dropped to number 11 after he left) and that he had never been warned about any problems with his performance.
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