Age Discrimination in The Los Angeles Workplace
Age discrimination does happen, but it is not necessarily the case that every institute is kicking out employees over 40 just because they are older. This is for sure a misconception, if this were the case every 40 year old would be petitioning for the wrongful termination. When it comes to the cases of the age discrimination it can be very difficult to prove, difficult, but not impossible. Many terminations do occur on the basis of age related issues and there are rules that can be followed to make sure the concern of the plaintiff is satisfied.
Here we take the case of Stephens v. Coldwell Banker Commercial Group, Inc. regarding age discrimination lawsuit and try to understand the steps. In most employment discrimination cases it is difficult to prove that the employer has terminated the employee on the basis of the age factor as there is seldom enough evidence which means that the indirect method has to be used.
Stages to proceed through the age discrimination case:
The first stage is that the plaintiff has to prove that he/she was over 40 years old when terminated and that they were performing their duties satisfactorily and were not having any sort conduct issues, or any other inappropriate behavior that could have gotten them lawfully fired. This would be evidence that the sole reason for displacing the plaintiff was their age.This is where the plaintiff would be given complete and uninterrupted chance to prove his good demeanor and that he was an efficient employee when it came to the job requirements.
Then comes the stage where the employer puts his explanation before the court explaining that the reason for the termination was not the age discrimination. And to prove his point he will have to bring forth the sound evidence of the employees’ misconduct, unsatisfactory performance at his job and lacking in his abilities to perform the job proficiently. The employer could do anything to put down the employee, but this does not mean that the verdict would come in favor of the employer.
There are few things that can raise the question for the employer and would backfire towards him if they can be provided by the employee.
Tenure of the job would determine that the performance of the employee was not poor as it would raise the question: why didn’t the employer terminate the employee earlier if his performance was inadequate? This shows that the employer is doing nothing but making up stories to prove that the employee was not discriminated against for age but the poor performance led to his termination.
Performance accolades by the employer such as awards and bonuses which would also prove to be helpful to show that the employee exemplary .
The most appropriate and best proof to show age discrimination is that a younger person was given the designation of the employee.
One of the most helpful pieces of evidence against the employer are comments in writing that push the employer to retire or move on before finally terminating them. These hints could have been in the form of questions asked about retirement plans or any statements that show that he is being encouraged to take retirement. Another significant statement which could show the employers intent would be name calling such as “father”, “old man” etc.
There are many small details that can prove age discrimination if you believe you have been discriminated against at work you need to speak with an expert Los Angeles Employment Attorney right away as you have limited time to take action.
The team at United Employees Law Group are waiting to help call today:
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