COM insists educator's purportedly low pay not discrimination

GALVESTON - The College of the Mainland has submitted its original answer to an age discrimination lawsuit against it, recent court records show.

The three-page response, filed Feb. 14 in Galveston County District Court, formally denies tenured COM educator Bruce Glover's allegations of low pay attributed to his age.

Glover, 60, filed suit against the school last month, stating younger individuals earned more money than him.

He is the chair of COM's Department of Business and Computer Technologies, a position he has held since 2007.

According to Glover's original petition, the defendant “has utilized a variety of methods for determining the salary scale that is applied to the plaintiff as a faculty member.”

“As a result, the plaintiff has received fewer and smaller salary increases from his employer than other faculty members who do not belong to his protected group by virtue of their age, race and/or gender,” the suit explains.

The complainant insists that COM has refused to remedy the problem in question, which he believes has a negative effect on his retirement payments.

Meanwhile, the respondent counters that Glover's claims are prevented by sovereign or governmental immunity.

"Any and all ultimate employment decisions taken by the College were based on legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons, which were not pretexts for discrimination," its reply says.

COM additionally faults Glover for failing "to timely exhaust his administrative remedies or conditions precedent before bringing such claims."

Attorney Clay T. Grover with Rogers, Morris & Grover LLP in Houston is representing the defendant.

Case No. 13-CV-115