Age Discrimination Attorneys

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis of their age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. It is enforced by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

As workers age, many companies are often hopeful that people will retire sooner so they can be replaced with younger talent (who often work for less money), but many people will continue to work well into their later years and have the right to do so. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act is the state law that prohibits employers from engaging in age discrimination.

Examples of Age Discrimination

Some of the most common kinds of age discrimination involve:

• Younger people being hired and recruited instead of older people 
• Older workers getting less training, no promotions, fewer raises, or being harassed in the workplace
• Older workers being fired 
• Older workers not being hired because of their age
• Bad performance reviews linked to a person’s age 
• People being offered less pay, benefits, or job assignments because of their age
• Discriminatory policies relating to age

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that approximately 40 percent of people 55 years of age and older were working or actively looking for work, and the labor force participation rate was expected to increase fastest for the oldest segments of the population, especially people ages 65 to 74 and 75 and older all the way through 2024. Participation rates for most other age groups in the labor force were not projected to change much over the decade.

AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons) reports that almost one in four workers 45 years of age and older were subjected to negative comments about their age from supervisors or coworkers, approximately three in five older workers saw or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, and 76 percent of older workers see age discrimination as a hurdle to finding a new job with more than half of older workers being prematurely pushed out of longtime jobs and 90 percent never earning as much again.

AARP also states that one in five workers in the United States is now 55 years of age or older. A reported 64 percent of workers said they saw or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, while 58 percent believe discrimination begins among workers in their 50s.

Many employers and supervisors who engage in age discrimination will not admit such reasons for their actions and usually justify their behavior through non-age related factors like unsatisfactory performance, downsizing, reductions in the workforce, or company reorganization. There is often circumstantial or indirect evidence of discrimination that proves effective in these cases, with common examples including the following:

• Older employees being replaced by significantly younger employees with inferior or, at best, equal qualifications
• Discriminatory comments by an owner or supervisor relating to an employee’s age
• Younger employees receiving preferential treatment in pay, promotions, or work conditions
• Older employees being disproportionately affected by company layoffs or workforce reductions
• Any pattern of hiring mostly younger workers
• Older employees not being provided training and opportunities to grow with a company, being excluded from meetings, or being deprived of duties
• Inconsistent workplace rules or standards being applied to employees of different ages

Contact Our Age Discrimination Attorneys in San Francisco

If you think that you were discriminated against at work because of your age, you should not wait another moment to seek legal representation. Olivier & Schreiber, LLP regularly handles age discrimination claims throughout the greater San Francisco area.

Our firm understands how complex these types of claims can be, but we also know how to locate the evidence people need to prove these kinds of cases. You can contact us online for a free consultation with our San Francisco age discrimination attorney.