Age discrimination is a real thing in Utah. There are many companies that terminate individuals based on their age. However, most companies understand the legal hurdles around discrimination and like all other discrimination cases, they may not come right out and say that someone was discriminated against but the actions and what surrounded the termination all lead to age discrimination.
There are many reasons why a company may discriminate against someone based on age. It could be due to that person having different points of view. There are cultural differences in our society between younger and older individuals. There are different viewpoints and norms. Some people grew-up with video games and Saturday morning cartoons. Some people grew-up with a black and white TV or no TV. Some people grew-up with a cellphone and e-mail and some people grew-up with letters. Some people grew-up during the civil rights movement and some people learned about it in a textbook.
Because of this, an employer may discriminate against an employer because they do not agree or don’t like being around someone else that is “old” or “young.” That can lead to discrimination if they are terminated or not promoted only based on that assumption. Also, if someone is not hired but has all of the right qualifications, that may also lead to discrimination because they are too old or too young despite them being perfectly capable of doing the job.
One big issue as well is older individuals that have worked for a company for a long time. Because of this, these individuals inevitably make more than other workers. What companies can do is try and “push” someone out through coming up with an excuse other than age discrimination, such as “we are changing your job title” or “we are changing the division around.” Many times because of this, they make that individual apply for their same job, have a job interview and then not receive a job offer.
The job may have a different job title, but it may smell, look, taste and appear and actually be the same job that a person had been working for over a long time with that company. Companies live and breath through money. In order for them to survive, they need funds. So age discrimination on this side happens more in the private sector and age discrimination on the viewpoint side happens more in the public sector where politics reigns instead of money.
The companies do this so they can pay someone who is younger a lower wage than someone who is experienced and older. These are tough cases, because many people who have put much into their job and have been loyal to their company are now being “ousted” after all of these years instead of having a commendable retirement party.
If you feel like you have not been promoted, disciplined, not hired, terminated, harassed or retaliated against for bringing an age concern to the company contact our Utah Employment Law firm and attorney for a review of your case.
Brian K. Jackson, LLC 