Age Discrimination

Most people are generally aware that there is some protection against age discrimination in this country and in California.  However, many do not realize that the laws only protect people over the age of forty (40) from discrimination on the basis of age, and that this protection is not absolute.

Recently, age discrimination laws have undergone scrutiny by the appellate courts.  The past ten years have seen a swing back and forth between whether an older worker can be fired and replaced with a younger worker purely for the economic reason that the younger employee can be hired for less money.  Recent cases to look at this issue have determined that this is unlawful conduct.  However, there are certain limited circumstances where age discrimination is permissible.  For example, certain government employees can also be subject to age limitations.  Other exceptions exist as well, and specific questions should be directed to competent counsel.

In addition to age discrimination itself being unlawful, so also is retaliating against an employee for opposing practices that discriminate based on age, or for asserting his or her employee rights (such as filing a charge of age discrimination, testifying, or participating in an investigation).