Newport Beach Age Discrimination Attorney

In California, older workers have plenty of protections. Both the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and the California Fair Housing and Employment Act (FEHA) make it illegal for employers to discriminate against an employee because of their age.

However, that does not mean that age discrimination does not happen. Most cases of age discrimination go unreported, but we know that the AARP says that over 60% of workers over the age of 45 have seen or experienced workplace age discrimination.

• The EEOC tells us that age discrimination involves “treating an applicant or employee less favorably because of his or her age.”
• For the latest reporting year, the EEOC filed nearly 17,000 age discrimination charges against employers.

The problem is that age discrimination or rarely overt. Employers know that this type of discrimination is illegal. We find that age discrimination shows up when an older employee is:

• Not hired due to their age
• Fired, laid off, or forced to retire due to their age
• Is pressured by supervisors to retire due to their age
• Harassed with remarks or insults about their age
• Offered less pay or benefits due to their age
• Given fewer hours or worse job assignments due to their age

What we usually discover is that older workers are replaced with substantially younger employees with equal or fewer qualifications.

When an older employee loses their job, they face the longest periods of unemployment of any age group. Many older workers are afraid to report instances of age discrimination because they fear they will be retaliated against.

• It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against someone for making an age discrimination complaint, even if the allegations turn out not to be true.