This paper discusses the challenge facing older workers and the actions they can take to prove age discrimination.
This paper explains that older employees and job applicants, who are 40 years of age or older, are protected under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The author states that claimants can use time-consuming and costly processes of litigation, mediation, or dispute resolution to reach a settlement or decision on their complaints. The paper states that age discrimination claims continue to be the fastest-rising claims with the EEOC because American workers are living and working longer, sometimes into their 70s.
“The EEOC recently settled a major age discrimination suit against Foot Locker. In any discrimination case, the following qualifications must be met: the claimant must be a member of a protected class, adverse employment action has occurred, legitimate reasons exist for the cause of action. When an employee feels that he has been discriminated against, he can file a claim with the EEOC who will investigate. In the case against Foot Locker (who owned Woolworth Inc.), employees 40 years old or over were laid off. But immediately after these layoffs, younger workers were hired from the outside and filled the vacant positions that were left by the older workers (EEOC).”