by Ronald Louis Peterson

Created on: July 13, 2009   Last Updated: April 17, 2011

Age discrimination in the American workplace is a dirty little secret that may not stay one for much longer. In spite of existing laws that forbid it, last year 24,582 workers had claimed their employers discriminated against them in charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 1

With our aging population, it is not surprising that this number is growing rapidly. In the last ten years, it increased 62 percent; up from 15,785. But, these numbers are really just the tip of the iceberg. Millions more Baby Boomers are turning 50-years-old every year and very few older workers who have been discriminated against hire attorneys to file charges with the EEOC because it is costly and difficult for them to prove age discrimination, and because the law applies to only employers with more than 20 employees.

Employers are well aware of the age discrimination laws and how to work around them because it pays for them to do so. Older workers, in general, cost employers more because they have earned years of salary increases, higher bonuses, more costly health benefits and larger pensions. By terminating them, employers can wipe away all these "extra" costs in an instant, and so they do.

The sad truth is that years of excellent, productive work and loyalty do not mean as much as the bottom line. In a strange twist of the marketplace, older workers who have accumulated years of valuable experience to rise to the top of their professions have, in the process, priced themselves out of the market in their employer's minds. Employers will never admit this even though they don't always get away with it.

Age discrimination awards to older workers granted by the EEOC in 2008 alone totaled $82.8 million, or about $3,348 per claim filed with it. Actual awards per claim totaled more since not all EEOC claims received awards and because EEOC awards do not include litigated settlements. According to a report by the International Longevity Center $861 million dollars were awarded victims of age discrimination by the EEOC and the courts from 1992 through 2004. 2 As impressive as these figures are, they represent just a fraction of what employers saved by terminating older workers, and so they do.

A United States Supreme Court ruling on June 18, 2009 virtually guaranteed that age discrimination will continue to be practiced by employers more than they practice other forms of discrimination. 3 In a 5 - 4 decision the court said that in the cases of race, color, religion,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>