Illegal Age Discrimination Comes in Many Forms

Even companies that display a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace frequently overlook older workers in their efforts. However, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits mistreatment against workers 40 or older, so workers and businesses should be vigilant about bias of this type. 

Sometimes, even employees themselves don’t realize that they have a potential claim because of the lack of focus on age-related mistreatment and the various methods used by employers to cover their discriminatory intent, such as:  

• Passing the torch — This occurs when a senior employee is gradually given fewer responsibilities or less challenging tasks while a younger colleague is groomed for their position. This deliberate marginalization makes the eventual termination appear as a natural transition rather than blatant age discrimination. 

• The carrot and the stick — Many older workers are subtly pressured to retire before they had originally planned through "generous" retirement packages or veiled threats about future career prospects. This allows the company to replace them with younger workers at potentially lower salaries.

• Failure to train — Companies sometimes try to exploit stereotypes against more experienced workers by limiting or denying training opportunities when new methods or technologies are introduced. When this happens, it makes senior employees seem outdated compared to younger colleagues.

In certain cases, someone 40 or older never even gets a legitimate chance to get the job they want. As a reaction to this phenomenon, some applicants choose not to list when they went to school or omit certain jobs from their resume so that they seem younger. Discrimination in the hiring process can be much tougher to detect than on-the-job bias. Employers have broken the law by requesting only “early career” applicants and by using computer programs to eliminate candidates older than a given age. 

Even a seemingly random comment that sounds positive could be a sign of illegal bias. Being told that you “look good for your age” or that “you should take this time to enjoy life” might indicate an improper motive on your employer’s part. Don’t wonder if age discrimination played a role in an adverse job action. Kardell Law Group has extensive experience getting to the truth in ADEA cases and other types of employment law matters.