Best Ohio Age Discrimination Attorney Answer: Can my employer refuse to promote me because of my age? Can my employer get rid of all the older employees in a layoff? Can I be forced to retire? How do I find a lawyer to sue my company for age discrimination?
Maybe you didn’t know it, but May 11-15 was National Infrastructure Week. Many media sources have been reporting that America’s infrastructure is “crumbling.” Like most Americans, I did not pay attention to National Infrastructure week. It came, it went. There were not even greeting cards created for this “holiday” week. But, last week, I was struck with a conundrum – I have a neighbor that complained and complained and complained about the pot holes and problems on our street, but then when the construction started to fix these problems, he complained about the construction and how long it was taking. So what does this have to do with employment discrimination, you ask? Our employment attorneys are often confronted with employers that say that complain that they want a younger work force but then complain about the lack of experience and the learning curve of younger workers.
And, in this age discrimination example, both conundrums come into play. You see, Jimmie Jackson worked for Longview Bridge and Road for thirteen years on many Texas state highway projects worth millions of dollars. Towards the end of his employment, Jackson claimed that he was turned down for a promotion, then fired six weeks later. In his age discrimination wrongful termination suit against his former employer, Jackson alleged that he was wrongfully fired after the company president discovered Jackson was almost 60 years old. Jackson never received any complaints about his performance, and worked as a superintendent. Jackson could think of no other reason for his termination other than his age.
Jackson’s employer alleged that his termination was the result of a lay off, and during the time when Jackson was let go, the company also laid off over 60 other employees. The company president testified during the trial that the company was both attempting to sell the project that Jackson was working on, and that cold temperatures contributed to the lay off’s. Jackson’s attorney argued that the numbers provided by the company to the state’s highway department and workforce agents during the layoff were inconsistent — so were the president’s given reason for Jackson’s termination.
After hearing all the evidence in his case, a jury agreed with Jackson and awarded him $83,000, plus attorney’s fees. Jackson was awarded $58,000 in lost wages, $25,000 in compensatory damages and an undisclosed amount of money for fees to pay his attorney.
Even though Jackson lives and worked in the state of Texas, most employees in Ohio are protected from age discrimination based on federal and state laws. As our employment discrimination lawyers have blogged about age discrimination before, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Ohio Revised Code § 4112.02 are designed to protect employees from being treated differently or terminated based on age. (See How Do I Sue My Employer For Age Discrimination At Work? I Need A Lawyer!; Age Discrimination: Deciding The Appropriate Section of the Ohio Civil Rights Act To Base Your Claim; Can My Employer Force Me To Retire Because Of My Age? Top Age Discrimination Attorney Reply!; I Was Fired Today Because My Employer Wants A Younger Workforce. I Need An Age Discrimination Lawyer!; Age Discrimination: A Good Verdict; and Can My Boss Fire Me Because I’m An Old Immigrant With An Accent? I Need A Lawyer!).
Ohio laws make it an unlawful discriminatory practice for any employer to “discharge without just cause, to refuse to hire, or otherwise to discriminate against that person with respect to hire, tenure, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, or any matter directly or indirectly related to employment” based on several protected classes, including age.
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:
This employment law website is an advertisement. The materials available at the top of the age discrimination blog page and on this employment law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. If you are still asking “What should I do …”, “I’m being discriminated against …”, or “How do I …”, your best option is to contact an Ohio attorney to obtain advice with respect to any age discrimination claim questions or any particular employment law issue that you may have. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship for your employment law needs. The legal opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm, Brian Spitz, or any individual attorney.