Pepperdine University and a 79-year-old former university finance instructor who alleged she was wrongfully terminated in 2024 because of her age have settled the plaintiff’s lawsuit.
Sheila Moore was hired in 2010 and 13 years later the university cut her hours, salary and benefits, according to the Los Angeles Superior Court suit, which additionally said she was terminated in December 2024. Moore, who sought more than $5 million, contended that all of the adverse actions were related to the plaintiff’s age.
On Monday, Moore’s attorney filed court papers with Judge Nicholas F. Daum informing him of an “unconditional” resolution in the case. No terms were revealed.
In their previous court papers, university lawyers said Moore, then 77, was let go due to a downturn in business school enrollments after the pandemic.
“Fewer people chose to pursue business degrees in uncertain economic times and international students grew wary of shifting political winds,” the university lawyers wrote in their court papers. “Consequently, like many other schools across the country, the business school experienced a precipitous drop (of) 50 percent over just three years between 2021 and 2024.”
Moore’s “bald assertion that the business school made decisions based on her age is unsupported speculation,” according to the Pepperdine attorneys’ court papers, which further state that Moore admits she never heard her age discussed by anyone at the business school.
Other faculty members ranging in age from 41 to 74 also received revised contracts when Moore did and many other full-time faculty members ages 40 to 77 also became part-time adjuncts like Moore because there were not enough classes to support their continued full-time employment, Pepperdine lawyers further contend in their pleadings.
But in her lawsuit filed in January 2025, Moore contended that Pepperdine replaced her with “one or more significantly younger employees.”
Moore has incurred medical expenses and income losses in addition to suffering emotional distress since losing her job, the suit stated.