Age discrimination is a surprisingly common phenomenon, one that unfairly harms workers all across the United States. When people are the victims of this type of discrimination, they can potentially lose income, time, or business opportunities for no reason other than their age. But what exactly is age discrimination, and how do you know what it is when it is happening?
Continue reading “What is Age Discrimination, and What Does it Look Like?”
Age discrimination is not discussed as often as other types of discrimination, but it is no less damaging for people and their careers. When employers choose to discriminate against their older employees, they can cause substantial harm to them and their career prospects. Here are five signs of age discrimination you may want to watch out for if you are 40 or older:
Continue reading “Five Potential Signs of Age Discrimination”
A British court has ruled that an employer discriminated against a young woman for being too young, under the U.K. Equality Act. The law, unlike equivalent legislation in the United States, prohibits all forms of age discrimination, whether against older employees or younger ones. Typically, age discrimination laws only protect older workers from being discriminated against, but some hope the U.S. might extend similar protections to younger workers as well. Continue reading “U.K. Court Rules Woman Was Discriminated Against for Being Too Young”
Steven Mitchell Sack, “The Employee’s Lawyer,” was interviewed by Forbes.com for an article on whether the United States would update its age discrimination laws to match those of The Equality Act in the United Kingdom, which permits younger workers to sue employers for age discrimination. Mr. Sack said such a law would be difficult to implement.
“While it’s a great question in theory, an expanded law will never happen because it’s illogical and impractical in practice,” Mr. Sack said. “Protecting a 28-year-old from age discrimination is silly. It’s hard enough to prove it when you have a 60-year-old, unless you have substantial proof.”
Barnes and Noble, the bookstore chain with locations around the country, is facing a possible class action lawsuit from employees who claim they were fired due to their age. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in Northern California, accuses the chain of deliberately purging the company of older workers in an attempt at cutting costs. The lawsuit blames the age discrimination in part on Elliott Management Corp., a hedge fund that took control of Barnes and Noble in August. Continue reading “Lawsuit Claims Barnes and Noble “Purged” Older Workers”
Prospective employers, under law, cannot ask a prospective job applicant such questions as “How old are you?” “Aren’t you a little old to apply for this job?” or “What year were you born?” This applies to companies accepting online applications.
Placing a question about the job seeker’s date of birth or year of graduation from college may be illegal because it allows the interviewer to dismiss the applicant on the basis he or she is “too old” or “overqualified.”
Continue reading “The Employees Lawyer Weighs in on Age Discrimination in the Workplace”
Interviewing for a job can be nerve-wracking. While the complexities of the interview process can deter your attention away from essential legal concepts, it is important to be attentive to what the interviewer is asking, especially in a legal sense. Potential employers should understand what they can and cannot ask of an applicant, but some may fail to recognize the severity of asking a discriminatory question. Questions along the following lines should always be avoided:
Continue reading “The Job Interview: Questions that are Necessary and Questions that are Off-limits”
Recently, a federal lawsuit was filed against Amazon and T-Mobile, among others, for discriminating against older employees in violation of the Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA). According to the complaint, these companies posted recruitment advertisements on Facebook, a social media platform, which targeted only specific age groups.
Continue reading “Age Discrimination Is Illegal”
The top executives at The New York Times have come under a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit for creating “a culture of discrimination” at the company based on age, gender and race. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two African-American female employees in their 60s who worked in the paper’s advertising department. The two women alleged that they were paid less than younger, white employees and were overlooked for promotions within the Times.
A Melville insurance brokerage has agreed to pay $300,000 in back wages to settle a lawsuit accusing it of age-based harassment, discrimination and retaliation against three former employees. The suit was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in July 2013.
The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that the company’s management made discriminatory age-related comments and refused to promote one of the claimants based on her age.
Continue reading “Age Discrimination: L.I. Based Company Forced to Pay”
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