Employment Discrimination LawyerYour employment discrimination lawyer will assist you with understanding how the law will protect you from being subjected to age discrimination.

A Bronx Employment Lawyer Will Explain Age Discrimination Laws in Employment

Both federal and state laws are in place to stop employers from being discriminatory against applicants and employees based on age. The most prominent law is the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. ADEA is a federal law that protects people who are age 40 and above from being discriminated against based on age. There is also a federal law known as the Older Workers’ Benefit Protection Act. With it, employers are not allowed to use age to discriminate with benefits and retirement. The ADEA does the following:

  1. Prohibits employers from discriminating based on age during any step in the employment process. This includes when you apply for the job, while being interviewed, during the hiring process, when you are up for promotion, and when it is determined whether or not you should be terminated.
  2. There cannot be age restrictions when: advertising for a job, conducting the application process, granting an interview, hiring a prospective employee, providing compensation, considering a promotion, disciplining an employee, and terminating the employee. There can be an age limit if it is a legitimate business necessity to consider age.
  3. The employer cannot reduce your health insurance or life insurance if you are older.
  4. Employers cannot discriminate against older employees when downsizing.
  5. Employers cannot force you to take early retirement.
  6. There can be no discrimination against you if you file, provide testimony, or participate in a claim based on ADEA against an employer.

How a Bronx Employment Lawyer Will Try to Prove the ADEA Violation

Your employment discrimination lawyer will tell you that it is difficult to prove that there was an act of age discrimination. In order to do so, the employee is required to show that there was an adverse action based on age. This can be shown through direct evidence, but there is rarely this type of evidence available. Simply being replaced by a person who is younger is not enough to prove age discrimination. It can, however, bolster your claim if there is other evidence to prove ADEA violations. The employer can only be found to have violated this law if you show that your age was the main reason for the action.

An Employer Can Request That an Employee Waive Rights Under the ADEA

Your employer has the right to ask you to waive your rights under the ADEA in exchange for considerations such as a severance package. There are certain conditions that must be adhered to prior to you agreeing to the waiver and the waiver being viewed as having been signed knowingly and voluntarily. The waiver must:

  1. Be placed in writing and understandable to you.
  2. Refer to rights or claims under the ADEA.
  3. Not have any language that waives rights or claims that can occur in the future.
  4. Let you know in writing that you should speak to independent counsel before signing the agreement.
  5. Give you a minimum of 21 days to place the agreement under consideration and seven days to revoke it.

Contact an Experienced Employment Discrimination Lawyer

When facing age discrimination in employment, call (877) 440-0854 to speak to an employment discrimination lawyer at The Law Offices of Delmas A. Costin Jr.