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Age Discrimination
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Age Discrimination
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One of my former co-workers, a man in his late 50's who worked for his former employer for 30 yrs before being laid off because company filed bankruptcy is now working a temp postition at that company
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Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » Age Discrimination
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Age Discrimination
posted at 12/28/2010 3:59 PM EST
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Posts: 7
First: 11/5/2010 Last: 12/31/2010 |
One of my former co-workers, a man in his late 50's who worked for his former employer for 30 yrs before being laid off because company filed bankruptcy is now working a temp postition at that company(they were bought and now employee about 200 before purchase about 500)was told during his interview for the temp position that they were looking for new, young blood to work in his old position. He was told this believe it or not by 2 people that have been in HR for 30+ yrs. Anyway, his old sales position was advertised, the man's counselor at unemployment told him to apply for the job, he has but has not been hired for the position and is wondering what to do about being told they were looking for young blood. He wants his old position back and is afraid if he goes forward with an age discrimination suit it will prevent him from ever getting another job there or anywhere. Any suggestions? |
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Age Discrimination
posted at 12/31/2010 6:05 AM EST
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Posts: 1103
First: 3/16/2007 Last: 8/19/2011 |
Because she is asking for legal advice for a friend. We can't give legal advice and even if we did we certainly shouldn't give it under these circumstances. Big difference in my book.
With that said, feel free to answer the question. I'm not in charge of this forum and everyone is free to do as they will. |
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Age Discrimination
posted at 12/31/2010 6:55 AM EST
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Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Unfortunately the only choice he has is to file an age discrimination claim with the EEOC (or state equivalent). But that doesn't mean that the investigation will happen quickly, that he will get a job again with this company OR that he will get any kind of payout. The EEOC only takes cases that are large -- otherwise if they feel there is "cause", they give you the right to find your own attorney and sue on your own dollar. Some attorneys if they feel your case is strong enough will take it on contingency, but I think that is more rare unless you have a smoking gun.
I agree the best thing to do is to pass this by an attorney to see how good of a claim he might have. If it is just hearsay and he has not other evidence or witnesses and the company can prove they were not rehiring employees of all ages, he might not have any case at all. There's pretty much nothing else he can do to get that specific job back and filing a claim doesn't guarantee anything either -- except that this company will now do everything they can to NOT rehire him. I have to agree that answering 3rd party questions is not something I normally do. I got involved in that other discussion because it had an overarching HR theme (bullying)..... |
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Age Discrimination
posted at 12/31/2010 7:06 AM EST
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Posts: 562
First: 11/12/2009 Last: 9/14/2011 |
I'm not sure that he should worry about getting a regular job back at his old company. He's already been told that they're going with younger employees.
Given that, I don't think your friend has anything to lose by filing a complaint. Have him document the conversations and certainly wait for a "younger" person to be hired. If they hire someone under the age of 40, he's got a pretty good case. But as noted above, the EEO process is tedious and results are far from certain. |
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Age Discrimination
posted at 1/1/2011 5:10 AM EST
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Posts: 2442
First: 2/12/2000 Last: 9/14/2011 |
As noted above he should file the age claim with the EEOC and let them review. The outcomes from this reviw can be either
a. They find "Probable Cause". This means there is a good inital case against the employer. Normally no attorney will proceed in this arena without this finding. b. They do not find probable cause. Attorney will likely not take the case since the government could not find sufficient facts to sustain a finding. c. Mediation- The EEOC will always try to "push" the employer to "settle" the claim with mediation. This could result in some additional weeks of pay as a penalty for using the inappropriate term "young blood". If he files the claim and then suddenly his temporary assignment ends, he should immediately file a claim of retaliation which is very serious claim with the EEOC and one they will pursue vigorously. One suggestion, when talking with the EEOC push then to have an analysis done of the termination and hiring age profiles to see if there is a statisical difference between the percentage of staff over 40 before and after the layoffs and the profiles of the newly hired. If there is a smoking gun this is where it will be found.......... |
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