Proving age discrimination in the workplace can be tougher than proving other types of workplace discrimination. Age discrimination can be as overt as a hostile work environment where age-related comments are prevalent or as subtle as favoring younger workers in employment decisions or opportunities.
Age discrimination in the workplace is on the rise, thanks to the increased proliferation of novel technology at companies everywhere. If you have questions about age discrimination or how to prove your claim, call Joseph & Norinsberg today at 212-227-5700 for a free consultation.
What Does Age Discrimination Look Like in the Workplace?
Rude comments can become age discrimination if they become too frequent or offensive, but an employer’s actions and decisions can also be discriminatory.
Common situations that can constitute age discrimination in the workplace include the following:
- Passing over older employees for promotions, work assignments, or training opportunities in favor of younger but less qualified workers
- Targeting older workers in layoffs and terminations or replacing them with younger employees with less experience
- Pushing older employees into retirement or taking buyouts
- Insulting comments or harassment about age, creating a hostile work environment
- Paying employees differently based on their age instead of relevant factors
What Laws Help Protect Employees Against Age Discrimination In the Workplace?
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, or ADEA, is a federal law that applies to all employers with 20 or more employees, including government entities, labor unions, and employment agencies.
Enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the ADEA protects employees aged 40 and older from age discrimination in the workplace, including making any employment-related decisions based on a worker’s age. Workplace policies that apply to all employees but harm older workers can still fall under the ADEA if they aren’t based on a “reasonable factor other than age.”
The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, or OWBPA, enacted in 1990, amended the ADEA to expand its protections to employee benefits like health care and retirement plans. The OWBPA creates exceptions to the ADEA for seniority-based benefit systems and allows employers to make age-based changes to plans when financially justified. However, it forbids employers from mandating involuntary retirement ages.
How Do You Prove an Age Discrimination Claim?
If you are over 40 and believe you’ve experienced age discrimination in the workplace, you may be entitled to legal protections under the ADEA.
However, you must provide sufficient proof to establish your employer’s bias. The proof must demonstrate that you were treated unfairly despite competent work performance and that the actions were based on age, such as providing a younger worker with more favorable treatment or replacing a more qualified older employee.
Insulting comments about age may cross the line to create a hostile work environment if they become too frequent or abusive, creating another basis for an ADEA claim. You may also be able to demonstrate that your employer retaliated against you for calling attention to age discrimination in your workplace.
What Evidence Do I Need to Prove an Age Discrimination Claim?
Keep copies of any communications related to employment decisions you believe are discriminatory, like emails or notices concerning a denied promotion. If they contain explicit discussions of age, such documentation can help show direct evidence of bias.
Documenting instances of age discrimination, including notes of rude comments and lists of witnesses, can create a log of circumstantial evidence that such behavior is common and tolerated in your workplace. You may be able to establish a statistical pattern of age discrimination by recording and analyzing the company’s hiring decisions and other behaviors.
An experienced employment law attorney can help you identify the types of evidence you’ll need and gather it to prove your claims.
What Are the Difficulties in Proving an Age Discrimination Case?
The burden of proof for age discrimination cases is on the worker, and definitively establishing bias is a tough task. It will likely take hard evidence to pierce the veil of plausible deniability, and employers will not often make openly discriminatory comments in writing.
Employers may also point to financial concerns to justify laying off or firing older employees, making any notions of age-related bias in the decision appear circumstantial.
Contact Joseph & Norinsberg For Your Employment Law Cases
Are you unsure how to prove your workplace age discrimination case? Don’t wait. Contact Joseph & Norinsberg online or call us at 212-227-5700 for a free consultation. Our expert attorneys can help you gather evidence and advise you on your next steps.
