“Younger people are just smarter…”, announced Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to an audience at Stanford University in 2009, summing up what now seems to be a pervasive problem of age bias in hiring among tech companies.
According to a research firm, Payscale, the median age of the average American worker is 42. At tech companies such as Google, Apple and Microsoft the range is anywhere from 29 to 33.
The apparent preference for young workers in the tech world has recently resulted in lawsuits against Google and Hewlitt Packard for alleged age discrimination and there is speculation that the EEOC has started to investigate.
According to a Bloomberg report, Silicon Valley’s largest tech companies have been sued hundreds of times for age bias in the last several years as those in the 40 plus range experience difficulty finding jobs and those who are still employed face layoffs as tech companies restructure their workforce to include workers fresh out of college.
Age discrimination involves treating someone less favorably because of his or her age. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older regarding any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.
If you have been discriminated against on the job based on your age or have been subjected to harassment or discrimination because of your race, religion, disability or another protected class, contact the Davenport Iowa wrongful termination attorneys at McDonald, Woodward & Carlson PC for help.
Our experienced employment law attorneys can help you with matters regarding workplace discrimination, harassment, wage and hour claims, FMLA cases, retaliation and workers’ compensation claims. Contact us today at 563-355-6478.
Source: USA Today, “Silicon Valley’s not-so-secret bias: Ageism”, by Jon Swartz, September 15, 2016.