Best Ohio Age Discrimination Attorney Answer: How old do I have to be to be protected from age discrimination? Can my company retaliate against my managers or my supervisors who refuse to discriminate against older employees? What should I do if my boss is ordering me to fire older employees?
Many Americans today look forward to their golden years. A time in their life when they no longer have to work and can spend days on the golf course and evenings relaxing at home. Unfortunately for many, those golden years come earlier than anticipated. For a select group of employees at DSW, they learned this the hard way.
To resolve a recent age discrimination lawsuit , DSW agreed to pay former employees $900,000 to settle an age discrimination law suit. Of course, a significant part of the age discrimination lawsuit was that DSW fired older workers because of their age. But, what our employment discrimination lawyers found most significant about the facts of the age discrimination case was that many of the plaintiffs were not old. And, remember, our employment attorneys have already blogged that there is no claim for reverse age discrimination. No, what was interesting was that the age discrimination lawsuit was also brought on behalf of managers, supervisors and other management level employees that opposed orders to wrongfully fire and discriminate against older workers.
Under Ohio and Federal law, employers cannot terminate or discriminate against employees due to their age. Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) and Ohio’s age discrimination statutes (R.C. § 4112.02(N), R.C. § 4112.05, and R.C. § 4112.14), employers can be held liable for age discrimination occurring in the workplace. After reaching the age of 40, you are in a protected class from all age based discrimination. Age discrimination can range from termination to simply reducing job duties at work or lowering an employee’s salary or hourly wage.
Can an employer take action against a manager or supervisor who refuses to discriminate against older employees? The answer to this question is an unequivocal no. Employers are forbidden by law from taking action against employees who refuse to take part in illegal employment practices. In addition, a company can be punished for retaliating against any employee who reports illegal activity occurring in the workplace. It is important to note that if possible, these reports of illegal activity should be made in writing.
As the DSW case shows, like crime, age discrimination does not pay. If you see or hear of any discrimination occurring in your workplace, take the appropriate steps to report the activity and know that if you are retaliated against for doing so, the law (and our age discrimination lawyers) are on your side.
If you are an employee over the age of 40 years old and believe that you are being discriminated because you are older than other employees; or have be wrongfully terminated or fired instead of someone younger or were replaced with some younger than you, you may have an age discrimination claim under Ohio law or the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Even if you are not sure about your age discrimination claim, you should call the right attorney as quickly as possible to schedule a free and confidential consultation at 866-797-6040. Age discrimination claims have very short statute of limitations, which means that you only have a very short amount of time to figure out if you have an age discrimination claim and take action. It is unlawful for employers to treat older employees differently. At the free initial consultation, you can tell us the specifics about how “my boss did …” or what happened on “my job.”
Disclaimer:
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