Oakland Age Discrimination Lawyer

An Employer Cannot Discriminate Against You Because of Your Age

Despite the wealth of experience, knowledge, and competence that older employees (defined as those 40 years of age or more) contribute to the workplace, they are sometimes discriminated against because they are wrongly perceived as more costly to have on staff, not as adaptable, and unlikely to remain with the employer for longer periods of time. Age discrimination occurs in hiring, promotion, and retention practices, contact our experienced Oakland age discrimination lawyers to learn more.

How can you tell that you have been discriminated against because of your age?

Obviously, employers will do all they can to keep it from looking like they are discriminating against you because of your age. The courts know this and will therefore look to circumstantial evidence to determine whether a person was discriminated against because of their age.

The most clear sign of discriminatory intent would be age-related harassing behavior that is either committed or tolerated by decision makers. This can take many forms including inappropriate comments or jokes directed at older workers. Sometimes this type of harassment creates a hostile work environment and may give rise to a harassment claim.

Other times the comments or jokes may not be pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment but are evidence of a discriminatory intent on the part of decision makers who either participate in the conduct or condone it. Generally, the most tangible and hurtful aspect of age discrimination is the different treatment that you may receive at work compared to other younger workers in terms of hiring, working conditions, evaluations, promotions, and termination.

Employers, attempting to camouflage their illegal actions will point to non-age related factors such as reductions in the workforce, corporate downsizing, or reorganization for the illegal actions. For example, there may be a “layoff” ostensibly due to lack of work or budget problems during which you, and perhaps other older employees, are terminated while younger employees are allowed to stay and take over your duties. In some cases, an employer may even be advertising for and/or hiring younger employees to pick up the excess work.

If you are a victim of age discrimination or harassment, the law is on your side

The law protects workers from employment discrimination based upon their age. You can take legal action against your employer to right this wrong. Venardi Zurada LLP is a firm serving California. We are experienced and effective attorneys who work on a contingency basis meaning that you do not pay us until we recover money for you. We offer free consultations to evaluate whether or not you have a legal claim for age discrimination or harassment.

Get a Free Case Review

If you are an employee who feels their rights have been violated, or you need help negotiating or reviewing your employee contract, please call to speak to one of our expert employment law attorneys at 833-893-6763 or submit our form.

When litigation or mediation is involved, and we are able to take your case, there is never any fee or expense to you of any kind until you get paid! That means we pay all litigation costs which you will not be required to pay back, and we only get paid if you get paid.

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