Generally, discriminating based on age in the office is prohibited under both the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
According to both laws, there are specific, particular limits on who is able to file suit. (For typical restrictions on who can sue and be sued, look to the California Fair Employment & Housing Act.)
People under forty years old are not protected by age discrimination in the workplace laws. If an employer declines to employ someone because he or she is thirty-nine, and therefore “too young”, that is not illegal. However, if it is because he or she is 40 and “too old”, that is illegal.
If you have been discriminated against simply because of your age, our Van Nuys age discrimination attorneys will help you with your situation. Contact us today if you have been a victim of age discrimination in Van Nuys.
Age discrimination has some special aspects making it distinctive from other types of work discrimination. A few of these are discussed below.
Golden Handshakes
Sometimes when employers are down-sizing, they lay people off by offering “golden handshakes”, which are special packages to workers who agree to take early retirement. This is not age discrimination. However, if it is being done for the purpose of getting rid of older staff simply because of their age, and if it can be found that there’s a real discriminatory reason, this is illegal.
Replacing Older Workers
It’s against the law to replace a person over forty with an individual under 40, in the event age is the reason. It is also against the law to replace someone over 40 with a younger individual who is also forty.
Older Worker’s Benefit Protection Act
The Older Worker’s Benefit Protection Act provides protection of benefits or benefit packages for older employees. According to this act, a business must provide equal benefits for older employees as they do for their younger associates.
An employer may achieve this by either offering packages that are equal in benefit or by investing the same amount of money on each individual. An individual cannot waive his right under this act, except when that waiver is knowing and voluntary.
Replacing Higher Earners and Age Discrimination in the Workplace
It is not illegal to replace people who are generating high wages with people that will make less because they don’t have seniority.
However, this usually means replacing older personnel with younger ones. If the wage considerations are not the real motivation, and the company is actually trying to replace some older employees with younger ones, that it illegal. In this case, the worker needs to verify that it’s the age, not the salary, that is motivating the business to replace the older personnel.
If you’ve been discriminated against because of your age, our Van Nuys age discrimination attorneys will help you with your case. Call us today if you’ve been a victim of age discrimination in Van Nuys.
Age Discrimination Lawyer Van Nuys
Age discrimination lawyers deal with age discriminatory practices to the end of defending the rights of their clients from being completely harmed. Age discrimination is defined as a prejudice towards a certain individual or group because of their age. This can include any assumption of knowledge or sameness because of one’s age. It is known that age discrimination may relate to prejudice against any age group strictly on the grounds of age.
Van Nuys Age Discrimination Lawyers
Courts generally turn to circumstantial evidence to find age discrimination by considering all the pieces of information and comparing what happened to you with what happened to younger staff. Usually companies place the blame on non-age related aspects such as corporate downsizing, reductions in the staff, or reorganization for the illegal actions.
Even so, you may encounter age discrimination when your supervisor takes adverse employment action because of your age while similarly situated, but younger, staff were treated differently and more favorably. Certain cases include:
- Wrongful termination
- Demotion
- Suspension
Federal and state laws and regulations defend staff from employment discrimination due to age. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act defends men and women over forty from discriminatory hiring practices and employment decisions made by businesses due to age discrimination.
Our age discrimination attorneys in Van Nuys understand the legal system and we can help you understand how it applies to you.
Contact a Van Nuys Age Discrimination Attorney Now
Our law firm’s experienced Van Nuys age discrimination attorneys are experts in employment age discrimination and retirement law. We can help you recover past and future lost wages and benefits, settlement for emotional distress, lawyer expenses, and even punitive damages. Our skilled discrimination lawyers won’t accept workplace age discrimination. We urge you to e-mail us to schedule a consultation to outline your rights.