Age Discrimination or a Longtime Employee Who Got Too Comfy?

Aging employees are either the best thing or the worst thing about a workplace.  Employers might psych themselves up about hiring fresh, young talent, but the more you press them about their reasons, the more insidious their motives seem.  Young people have less experience, so you don’t have to pay them as much.  They may also be willing to work around the clock in the name of career advancement, and the youngest among them do not have childcare or elder care commitments that might prevent them from doing so.  The desire to get their careers going might even make them hesitate to speak up about discrimination, sexual harassment, wage theft, and other unsavory and illegal behaviors that older workers would never let fly.  On the other hand, older workers know the job better than anyone else does, and they contribute to a sense of community and social cohesion in the workplace.  It is against the law for employers to force employees out of a job simply because they are too old or they have been in the workplace too long.  If you suffered age discrimination when an employer pressured you to retire, contact a Los Angeles discrimination and harassment lawyer.

Court Sides With Employer After Employee Claims He Was Coerced to Retire

Decades ago, a 21-year-old man began working at a factory that makes swimming pool supplies.  He worked there continuously until he was 62 years old, when his supervisor called him into the office for a one-on-one meeting.  The employee says that the supervisor told him that his only choices were to resign or be fired.  The employee said that he chose to resign, and the supervisor instructed him to write a statement on a blank sheet of paper.

The employee sued his former employer for age discrimination, and the case eventually went to trial.  The employer argued that the employee had violated safety regulations on multiple occasions, including driving a forklift in an unsafe manner.  They also alleged that, since he had been there for so many decades, the employee acted as though rules about meal breaks and clocking in and out did not apply to him.

In October 2024, the court ruled in favor of the former employer.  It reasoned that the plaintiff did not provide sufficient evidence of the meeting where the employer allegedly pressured him to resign; it concluded that the plaintiff did not prove that the meeting ever happened.  Furthermore, the employee worked on an at will basis, with no contract; therefore, the employer was perfectly within its rights to fire him for minor infractions, or even for no reason at all.

Speak With a Los Angeles Employment Discrimination Lawyer

A Los Angeles employment discrimination and retaliation lawyer can help you if your employer pressured you to retire because of your age and then made excuses about why your job ended.  Contact Litigation, P.C. in Redondo Beach, California to discuss your situation or call (424)284-2401.

Source:

blog.cvn.com/california-jury-rejects-age-discrimination-lawsuit-watch-full-trial-via-cvn