Age Discrimination

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (“ADEA”) protects employees who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age.

While we all know that employers should make employment decisions based on the merits of an employee’s performance and not on stereotypical assumptions, the reality is that some employers take a world-view that they are the all-powerful boss and can do whatever they want. Federal laws such as the ADEA, as well as the analogous state law under the Illinois Human Rights Act, provide legal protection for employees from employers who abuse their powers.

While the discriminatory biases of some employers are readily apparent through their abusive statements, other employers are more covert and subtle. There are various discovery tools (both formal and informal) that can be used (during litigation as well as before) to reveal and prove discrimination – and that can be used to protect an employee’s employment and/ or gather evidence to substantiate an employee’s case.

Do you believe that your age was taken into account in the employer’s decision to terminate your employment? Do you believe that your employer treated younger employees more favorably than you with regards to pay or other terms and conditions of employment? Were you replaced by a younger employee? Has your employer made any statements indicating a bias against older workers? Are you concerned that in the near future you are going to be terminated from your employment because of your age, and want to know what you can do to attempt to protect yourself and your employment?

Notably also, there are anti-retaliation laws in effect that provide protections and remedies for those employees who have been retaliated against for having in good faith spoken up and made a protected complaint of being subjected to age discrimination.

Protection of employees against retaliation can include not just situations where the employee has filed a formal administrative (e.g. EEOC/ IDHR) or judicial claim, but also to situations where the employee has made an internal claim of age discrimination (including also informal verbal or written complaints) or participated in an investigation regarding same.

If you believe that you may have been subjected to discrimination due to your age, or retaliation for your complaint(s) of age discrimination, or if you are concerned that you may in the future be subjected to age discrimination or retaliation, then call me to briefly discuss if it makes sense for you to come in for an appointment to my Chicago loop office to further discuss your employment situation.