Age Discrimination

Among the most prevalent forms of on-the-job discrimination , age discrimination is the hardest to prove and we need to strengthen those protections. Workers in their 40s, 50s and 60s have too much to contribute to the economy. This is an issue of economic security for all Americans.

Glassman’s plan would extend the same protections against racial or gender-discrimination to older Americans in the work force. It would also provide incentives to hire older workers, who are having a harder time re-entering the work force during the Bush Recession.

Rodney has signed a pledge not to raise the retirement age for Social Security. However, protecting older Americans is only part of his plan.

This is just another issue John McCain has been silent on, even as Arizonans deal with it every day.

In 1967, Congress passed and the president signed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to protect workers older than 40 from discrimination based on age. The act covers all government workers, unions and companies with more than 20 employees.

Rodney’s plan would amend the ADEA to provide the same civil rights protections found in Title VII. We must expand it to include businesses with more than 10 employees. In addition, he plans to add protections that will require job training programs available to younger employees be available to all employees.

If we establish a $2,500 tax credit for every employee hired above the age of 50 it would offset higher health care costs associated with older workers. We can add points for professional federal contracts to firms that demonstrate strong history of hiring workers over the age of 40, and we can use fines collected to fully staff offices that investigate discrimination and oversight of government contracts.

In 2009, the EEOC’s budget was increased by $23 million, but that only allowed the agency responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the U.S. to hire 140 more staff to investigate claims. That’s as unemployment has doubled.

In June 2009, the Roberts Court ruled that to gain relief under the law required proving that the age of the employer was the “but-for” reason that the employee was denied advancement, denied benefits or was dismissed. The law had been applied similarly to civil rights standards in Title VII, which declares that any degree of discrimination is grounds for finding for the plaintiff.

Businesses can be reluctant to hire older workers because of stereotypes. They are thought to be less adaptable than younger workers, and employers often fear higher costs in health care benefits associated with employing older workers.

EEOC Employment Claims of Age Discrimination
2006: 17,000 claims
2007: 19,000 claims
2008: 25,000 claims