Age Discrimination in General

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) may sound like it prohibits age discrimination, but it is far more limited than that. Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex against both men and women. Thus, everyone is covered. This is not the case with the ADEA. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act is limited to discrimination against people over the age of 40.

The typical age discrimination case involves a complaint that someone over 40 was treated differently than someone under 40. Like other forms of discrimination this can be a wrongful termination or some other adverse act.

But although the Age Discrimination in Employment Act draws a line at the age of 40, it is not the state of being over 40 which creates a claim for age discrimination. For example, the difference between someone who is 40 and one day and someone 39 and ten months is not very significant. On the other hand, the difference between someone who is 55 and someone who is 42 may well present an age discrimination claim.

Older Worker’s Benefit Protection Act
Additional protections are provided in conjunction with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The Older Worker’s Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) requires that individuals over the age of 40 be given 21 days to consider any agreement waiving their rights under the ADEA and have an additional seven days after signing it to revoke their signature. The OWBPA therefore has a significant impact on severance agreements. While you should never sign a severance agreement without consulting an attorney, if you have done so, but believe you have been subjected to age discrimination, you may still have a claim if you revoke in time. The severance agreement does need to be read carefully to determine how to the revocation must be made.

Age discrimination claims can be complex and often hard to recognize. You need an employment lawyer to carefully review your situation. Call us at Hinton & Associates, P.A for help.