Age Discrimination

Age discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee or applicant who is age 40 or older unfavorably because of his or her age.  For instance, it is illegal for an employer to terminate an older employee in order to retain younger employees who are paid less.

It is also unlawful for an employer to harass a person who is age 40 or older because of his or her age. Harassment can include, among other things, offensive remarks about a person’s age.

Harassment can come from just about anyone.  The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.

Although the law doesn’t prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that aren’t very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment, or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

 

Examples of Age Discrimination:

• An employee is turned down for a promotion that is awarded to a younger person hired from outside of the company, because management states that the company “needs new blood.”
• An employee is fired because the employer wants to keep younger workers who are paid less.
• An applicant does not get hired because the employer wants a younger-looking person to do the job.
• When company layoffs are announced, most of the employees laid off are older, while younger workers with less seniority and less on-the-job experience are kept on.
• Before an employee is fired, his or her supervisor makes age-related remarks about him or her, such as that he or she is “over-the-hill,” or “ancient.”