EEOC to "Vigorously Pursue" Fight Against Discrimination

The number of older people in the workforce is going to continue to increase, according to projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau estimates that by 2018, there will be 43 percent more workers aged 55 and older than there were in 2008. The changing workforce makes it even more important for employers to take precautions against age discrimination.

The federal government prohibits discrimination against workers aged 40 or older, and some states have laws that protect younger workers as well. The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) requires that workers 40 and over not be discriminated against because of their age in hiring, firing, pay or any other aspect of employment.

The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission recently sued the Bank of Albuquerque, alleging that the bank engaged in both age and sex discrimination when it fired two over-40 female managers and disciplined a third. The fired managers had been long-time employees of the bank. The EEOC alleges that the actions against the women were taken for reasons that were not applied to younger male employees. The sex-discrimination claims were brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The age-discrimination claims were brought under the ADEA, which applies to employers with 20 or more employees.

A district director for the EEOC said, “We will continue to vigorously pursue our mission of fighting employment discrimination on all fronts, including discrimination based on both age and sex.”

Employers need to take action to protect themselves from potential government and private discrimination lawsuits, and an essential step is providing discrimination and harassment training for their employees. 

Categories: Discrimination & Harassment Compliance