All workers deserve to be treated fairly. Unfortunately, reality sometimes doesn’t reflect this. Workers are sometimes subjected to unjust treatment due to certain personal characteristics. This could include their age.
Age discrimination against older workers can take many forms. Examples include:
- An employer refusing to hire or promote a worker in part because of age
- Age being a factor in an employer’s decision to fire or take other negative actions against an older worker
- A person facing harassment at work because of his or her age
In any of its forms, age discrimination can cause great harm to older workers. Unfortunately, a recent survey points to this type of workplace discrimination being pretty common in the United States.
The survey was done by AARP. The survey was of 3,900 workers and prospective workers. All of these individuals were age 45 or older. Of these respondents, 61 percent said they had experienced or witnessed workplace age discrimination. Female respondents and African-American respondents were particularly likely to indicate having seen or experienced such discrimination.
What can workers do when subjected to this type of discrimination? Well, age discrimination against workers 40 and over is not just unfair, it is also against federal law. So, workers subjected to such conduct can have legal options.
However, pursuing such options can have its challenges. For example, the level of proof needed to support age discrimination claims can be particularly high. So, strong legal support can be an important thing for workers to have when pursuing justice in the face of age discrimination.
