Every worker grows older and Federal and state laws protect against age discrimination in all aspects of employment. Employers are forbidden from considering age as a factor in deciding whom they will hire for a job, deciding who they will fire, promote, give assignments, provide raises or benefits, or provide training. Federal, state, and local laws also protect against an employer forcing retirement (with few exceptions) or to limit opportunities for older workers to advance in the workplace, particularly when targeted based on stereotypes that are unsupported by objective facts.
“It is the very essence of age discrimination for an older employee to be fired because the employer believes that productivity and competence decline with old age.”— U.S. Supreme Court, 1993
Employees Rights Lawyers in the Greater Washington D.C. Area
Correia & Puth attorneys work to hold employers accountable when they use an employee’s age as a factor against them at work, instead of valuing the experience and perspective that older workers bring to the workplace. We have represented employees subjected to age discrimination under both state and federal law. We have negotiated on behalf of workers who experienced discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and local laws such as the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, the Prince Georges County Human Rights Act, and the Montgomery County Human Rights Act.
The lawyers at Correia & Puth have the experience and commitment to fight employers who use age bias to discourage older workers from staying on the job or keep them from advancing in their careers. Recently, for example, Linda Correia negotiated a settlement against a local hospital on behalf of a senior manager who was passed over for promotion to an executive position in favor of a much less experienced employee. The negotiated resolution of the case included putting the employee in the position to which she should have been promoted, back pay for lost earnings and reassignment of the underqualified employee to a different position. In another recent case, Correia resolved claims on behalf of a sales representative with 30 years of experience, whose employer took away half of her clients and assigned them to sales reps in their 30’s without adjusting her annual sales goal of $1.6 million. Jonathan Puth also represents age discrimination clients currently in active litigation.
Have You Faced Age Discrimination?
The law provides broad protection from age discrimination. For example, recent cases have held employers accountable for age discrimination where they suddenly faulted an employee for his failure to “keep up” with changes in the industry, or criticized the employee’s “current” business acumen or knowledge of computer technology, or whether he was up to the job in the “hard driving culture” of the company.
If you have been a target of age discrimination or retaliation because you made a claim of age discrimination, the lawyers at Correia & Puth can help you hold your employer accountable. We can guide you through the process of making a complaint to your employer, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or to a state or local agency. We take on the burden of negotiating with our clients’ employers or former employers for fair resolution of claims or file a lawsuit where necessary to achieve our clients’ goals. Please contact us today.
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It takes courage to fight back against those who discriminate.Contact us to see how we can help you.