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The Employer Handbook BlogDon’t let subjectivity, stereotypes, or statistics create age bias issues for your next RIF
Reductions in force are bad enough. Don’t let decisionmakers mishandle them and create litigation risks.
Articles Posted in Age
This guy’s discrimination claims were so bad. (How bad were they?)
They were so bad that a federal judge applied a rarely-used rule of civil procedure to consider summary judgment on its own after identifying for the parties material facts that may not be genuinely in dispute.
Boy, that was about as witty as Groundskeeper Willie’s standup routine at Springfield Elementary.
(Note to self: take after the Clown.) Continue reading
Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, the EEOC sues you for age discrimination
Proving age discrimination can be difficult because plaintiffs must ultimately establish that their age was a determinative factor in the defendant’s decision. In other words, if not for the plaintiff’s age, the [adverse employment action] would not have occurred. Continue reading
“You have done nothing wrong. I am just following orders in building a new, younger team for the CEO.”
If you’re 67 years old, you work in human resources, and you happen to hear those words from the company’s U.S. president, it may be time to dust off the old resume.
Or contact the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Continue reading
The lawyers, man, sometimes they screw everything up.
That’s the vibe I got from reading this recent Fifth Circuit decision affirming the lower court’s dismissal of age discrimination claims. Continue reading
If hiring managers say they are looking for “new blood,” are they guilty of age discrimination?
An HR employee claimed that her age motivated her employer’s decision not to select her for a Human Resources Talent Consultant (HRTC) position after the company restructured the HR Department.
Why? Because decision-makers allegedly said on a conference call that they were looking for “fresh new blood” to fill the HRTC role.
Is that code for age discrimination?
How long do your employees have to sue you for discrimination?
Perhaps you’ve gotten here because you’ve Googled ‘How long do I have to sue my employer for discrimination?”
Either way, let’s discuss. Continue reading
This HR service provider “walked the walk” and defeated claims of age discrimination
Some of the tenets of good HR compliance include documenting and communicating performance issues and taking additional formal steps to alleviate them. If those steps fail, the employer can proceed with termination, being sure to document the reasons supporting the final decision. Continue reading
A “relentless and ruthless” campaign of 1,000 age-based insults might force an older employee to resign
“This case is close,” reasoned a federal appellate court. Continue reading
Hey, management-side employment lawyers! Bookmark this post now and thank me later.
We’ve all been there as defense attorneys.
You find yourself defending claims of disparate treatment under a federal anti-discrimination statute like the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) where your client hired someone younger than the plaintiff. The only logical explanation, according to the plaintiff, is age discrimination. Why? Because the plaintiff just knows that she was more qualified than the other person. Continue reading