Originally written in 1961, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), passed in 1967, prohibits discrimination in the workplace against "individuals of at least 40 years of age"25in the United States. The bill "was enacted 'to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; [and] to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment. Applying to companies with 20 or more employees, the ADEA includes "state and local governments [and] also applies to employment agencies and labor organizations, as well as to the federal government. The ADEA has been at the heart of many age discrimination lawsuits since its passage, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently taken measures to ensure corporations maintain policies that uphold the Act. The History of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Established on July 2, 1965, the EEOC "is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal (including against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information."28 sexes, Developed largely in response to The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC has investigated more than 17 claims annually since 2002, settling between 6.5 and 11.1 percent in the past ten years.
Case:
Following its promise to pursue cases of age discrimination, the EEOC filed suit against AT&T on August 20, 2009. Some of the employees who took advantage of AT&T's early retirement incentives plans later reapplied for jobs at AT&T; these former workers were allegedly denied consideration solely on the basis that they had previously retired from AT&T. The EEOC found that AT&T's exclusion policy had "a disparate impact on employees and applicants for employ-ment who are age 40 and over in violation of the ADEA. originally filed by John Yates, the EEOC's claim stated that Yates, along with dozens o other employees, had been denied reemployment, despite their qualifications and previous expel rience with AT&T, because they were 40 years of age or older. Yates had reapplied for a posinhol with AT&T at the age of 57. According to the EEOC, AT&T had been violating workers' rights under the ADEA since October I 2006. Stuart Ishimaru stated, "We've been taking a newhard look at age discrimination recently, and we're intent on enforcing the ADEA strategictal and vigorously. This particular case highlights the Commission's commitment to combaint age-based disparate impact discrimination.
1. Do you think there is an illegal disparate impact? Why? Give an overview and discuss the pros and cons of CSU's Faculty Early Retirement Plan.
2. Should an individual who retires from a company under an early retirement incentives plan be allowed to reapply to that organization at a later date?
3. From your personal knowledge and experience, is age discrimination prevalent in today's workplace? Since you will be an older worker one day, what strategies will you use to manage the pervasive stereotypes about older worker?