A former employee of tech giant Hewlett-Packard, 70-year-old Don Delaney, recently filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming age discrimination.
85 Percent of Those Let Go Over Age 40
In 2015 Delaney, a business consultant who had been with the company for 16 years, was let go as part of a 2012 work reduction plan. Among the reductions made under the plan over 85 percent of those who were released were over age 40, which is a protected group under age discrimination laws. Delaney had reportedly applied for 25 positions with Hewlett-Packard, but was unable to secure a new job with the company before his release.
Tech Industry Has a Reputation of Age Discrimination
Many tech industry analysts have criticized the tech industry for its practices of favoring younger workers over more seasoned employees. For example, recruiting drives which target newly graduated prospects seem to suggest that tech companies would prefer to hire someone in their 20s over older prospects.
In addition to the above example, there are a number of ways in which tech companies attempt the skirt age discrimination laws. Companies have been known to downsize job positions of older workers, only to hire younger workers under newly created job positions to replace them. Older workers have also complained that they have felt that they were being pushed out of their jobs when their performance reviews suddenly and inexplicably worsened, or when they were given different treatment than other employees, including being assigned to unfavorable tasks in the office or being left out of important office meetings and gatherings.
Age Discrimination Definition
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines age discrimination as treating an applicant or employee unfavorably because of his or her age. On its website the EEEOC says that it is not illegal for an employer to favor older individuals over younger individuals, and that the minimum limit for age discrimination is 40 years old. The EEOC also states that age discrimination can occur even when all parties involved are over 40, which means that the offending situation does not necessarily have to involve a younger manager discriminating against an older applicant or employee.
