While you would assume that an experienced employee would be an asset to their company for their wealth of knowledge and the competitive market advantage they can bring, many older employees report a different reality. If that has been your experience and you have suffered discrimination, ill-treatment, or job loss due to your age, you should consult a lawyer and find out if you can take legal action against your employer. Unless you already have a lawyer, you can find a competent one in your area through recommendation or by searching online for “age discrimination lawyer Los Angeles.”

What is age discrimination in the workplace?

Age discrimination in the workplace can refer to any of the following:

• Your co-workers keep harassing you with malicious, offensive, and derogatory remarks about your age, and their conduct is creating a hostile work environment for you.

• Your employer cites your advanced age for refusing to give you the work promotion you deserve.

• Your employer demotes you from your position for no valid reason.

• Your employer refuses to give you a well-deserved salary raise due to your age.

• Your employer does not give you work assignments you are qualified to do because of your age.

• Your employer excludes you from training programs, apprentice programs, and work-related trips for age-related reasons.

• Your employer informs you that they will be reducing the benefits for people in your age range.

• Your employer fires you and other employees in your age group without giving you any compensation or providing any performance-related reasons for your dismissal.

• When you review job advertisements, the employer reviews they can only hire people with less than seven years of work experience.

• When you go for a job advertisement, the employer informs you that they only hire people with less than 15 years of industry experience.

What are the laws regarding age discrimination?

Federal and California state laws explicitly prohibit age discrimination in the workplace. The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) governs, applies to employers who have 20 or more employees. As per the ADEA, employers cannot discriminate against employers because they are 40 years old or older.

It is illegal for employers to discriminate against them in different aspects of employment, such as hiring, working conditions, promotion, compensation, and discharge. The law also prohibits employers from including their age preferences in job notices or advertisements and asking for the applicant’s age in job applications and job interviews.

As per the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), employers with five or more employees cannot discriminate against employees based on their age or retaliate against them when they assert their legal rights. All employers, even those with less than five employees, are forbidden by law from harassing all employees, whether the latter are part-time, full-time, freelance, temporary, contract, volunteer, or unpaid internship workers. Similarly, they cannot discriminate against a job applicant who is 40 or above in age. Please note that the FEHA law does not apply to employees under 40 years old.

What can you do about unfair treatment in the workplace?

By hiring an age discrimination lawyer Los Angeles-based employees can find out if unfair treatment by their employer constitutes illegal age-related discrimination. For a case of age discrimination, you will need to prove the following:

• You are 40 years old or older.

• The employer comes under the federal and state age discrimination laws.

• The employer took action against you because of your age.

• The employer’s action adversely affected you.

However, all unfair or unprofessional treatment you experience by your employer does not indicate age discrimination automatically. Employers may be well within their rights to discriminate against you if they are basing their decision on a bona fide occupational qualification. In this employment practice, the employer can exclude you if your age is a factor in undermining the safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of the company’s work operations.

The lawyer will review the facts of your situation and evaluate the specific circumstances. He or she can help you determine if your case meets the requirements of the current discrimination laws and provide advice on the steps you can take to obtain a legal remedy.