Los Angeles Age Discrimination Lawyers

Have you experienced discrimination or harassment at your place of work due to your age? Unfortunately, employers and managers can promote a hostile work environment, one in which older employees are subject to cruel and unfair stereotypes and biases about their age. If this sounds like what’s happening to you, the legal team at Moon Law Group, PC, can help.

Since 2007, our firm has exclusively represented employees with employment law claims, handling some of the most complex cases in Los Angeles and throughout California. We have an established track record of victories in state and federal courts, with millions of dollars in compensation recovered for tens of thousands of clients.

Our lawyers have extensive experience representing workers in collective and class action lawsuits, which enables multiple employees who have experienced similar discrimination from a specific employer to pursue financial and legal relief.

We are one of the largest plaintiff’s employment law firms in California, with a team of attorneys who have earned a reputation among our legal peers for tenacious and skilled litigation advocacy. Corporate defense lawyers know us for having the know-how, determination, and resources to take on the employers they represent, the ones who unfairly discriminate against their current and prospective employees.

Contact Moon Law Group for a free, confidential initial case review with a Los Angeles age discrimination lawyer. We can assess your situation, discuss your legal options for seeking financial compensation, legal relief, or accountability from an employer or prospective employer.

How Can a Los Angeles Age Discrimination Lawyer Help with My Case?

An attorney from Moon Law Group can help you pursue a workplace age discrimination claim against a current, former, or prospective employer by doing the following:

• Thoroughly investigating your claims to recover evidence of discrimination or a hostile work environment
• Walking you through your legal options to help you make informed decisions about how to proceed with your case
• Documenting your financial losses and determining other relief you might pursue in your claim, such as reinstatement to a job that an employer terminated you from due to your age
• Vigorously pursuing your case to obtain a fair and favorable outcome for you through a settlement or by taking your case to court, if necessary
• Never charging you anything unless we successfully resolve your age discrimination lawsuit

What Is Age Discrimination?

Age discrimination in the office occurs when an employer takes an adverse employment action against a worker due to their age. The law generally prohibits age discrimination against older workers (individuals 40 and older).

When an employer creates or permits a hostile work environment based on older workers’ age, this is also considered age discrimination. A hostile work environment can arise when other employees, supervisors, or managers harass older workers due to their age.

Age discrimination may also involve an employer retaliating against a worker who opposes or reports workplace age discrimination. A prime example is when a worker participates as a witness in an investigation or legal action involving age discrimination claims.

Discrimination can involve disparate treatment, where an employer treats similarly situated employees differently based on their age. Alternatively, age discrimination can arise when an employer’s policy disproportionately affects older workers more than younger employees. Even though the policy may seem neutral and the employer did not intend to discriminate against older workers, it can still be considered age discrimination.

What Are Typical Signs of Age Discrimination at Work?

Common examples of age discrimination at work include the following forms:

• Failure to Hire or Promote – Employers may refuse to hire or promote older workers, instead preferring younger workers who typically command lower salaries and may have longer careers with the company.
• Exclusion from Training or Development Opportunities – Employers or supervisors may refuse to train older workers or deny them professional development or career advancement opportunities.
• Negative Age-Based Comments – A hostile work environment based on age can develop when co-workers, supervisors, and other company officials make disparaging comments about an older worker’s age or older people in general.
• Changing Job Requirements – Employers can discriminate against older workers by changing their job duties, including removing job responsibilities or work tasks from an older employee’s plate.
• Pressuring Retirement – An employer can engage in age discrimination by pressuring older employees to retire, such as by repeatedly asking older workers about their retirement plans or taking adverse employment actions against an older worker to force them to quit and retire.
• Sudden Layoff or Termination – Employers can violate the rights of older workers by terminating or laying off employees due to their age.

What Is the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 prohibits age discrimination in employment under federal law.

The ADEA ensures that employers judge older workers based on their job performance and potential, rather than on age-based stereotypes, and helps older workers find and maintain employment. This law applies to companies with 20 or more employees, as well as state and local governments and federal agencies. The Act bars employers from discriminating against individuals age 40 and older.

The law makes it illegal for an employer to take adverse employment actions against older workers, including the following:

The ADEA also prohibits harassment or hostile work environments based on age. Harassment or a hostile work environment can arise when co-workers or other company officials do the following:

• Make offensive comments about a worker’s age or older people (such as stating that an older worker cannot use technology due to their age)
• Use slurs or derogatory names for older individuals, like “geezer” or “dinosaur”
• Berate workers for poor performance by attributing it to their age

The ADEA also protects employees from retaliation by employers for reporting or opposing workplace age discrimination. This includes filing an age discrimination complaint or participating in an internal or government investigation into age discrimination or an age discrimination lawsuit.

Does California Have an Age Discrimination Law?

California also has an age discrimination law, known as the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Like the ADEA, the FEHA also prohibits discrimination against or harassment of workers age 40 and older. The FEHA makes it illegal for employers with five or more employees to discriminate against older workers and prohibits age-based harassment for all employers in California. The law applies to public and private employers, labor organizations, and employment agencies.

How Can I Prove Age Discrimination at Work?

When you believe your employer has mistreated you or harassed you based on your age, you may wonder about how to prove age discrimination at work. Your case may have direct and circumstantial evidence of age discrimination.

Direct evidence can include an employer’s admissions that it has made an employment decision based on a worker’s or applicant’s age. Circumstantial evidence can support an inference that an employer has discriminated against a current or prospective employee due to their age or demonstrate that an employer has cited a non-discriminatory reason for an employment action as a pretext for discrimination.

Common examples of evidence you might use to prove age discrimination in the workplace include the following:

• Witness testimony about statements or comments made by co-workers, supervisors, or managers
• Written correspondence, including emails and text messages
• Employment records, including performance reviews or notices of termination
• HR records of an employer’s employment decisions, such as hirings, promotions, and terminations
• Statistical analysis that demonstrates an employer’s pattern of discriminatory decision-making

What Damages Could I Recover in an Age Discrimination Lawsuit?

When an employer or prospective employer discriminates against you due to your age, you may have the right to pursue financial and legal relief in a discrimination lawsuit. Types of damages, or relief you might recover in an age discrimination lawsuit, include the following:

Additionally, a court may award punitive damages, which are not intended to compensate a worker for their losses. Rather, they serve to punish an employer for their particularly harmful behavior, to deter similar actions in the future, and to send a message to other companies that such practices will not be tolerated.

How Long Do I Have to File an Age Discrimination Claim?

Under the statute of limitations for age discrimination claims, you typically must file a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 180 days of an act of age discrimination that violates the ADEA (or within 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a state age discrimination law). Furthermore, you typically have three years to file an age discrimination complaint under state law with the California Civil Rights Department.

After filing a complaint with the EEOC or CRD, you can file an age discrimination lawsuit against your employer once you receive a right-to-sue letter from the state or federal agency. You must file suit within 90 days of receiving a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC or one year after receiving a right-to-sue letter from the CRD.

Because you have limited time to pursue an age discrimination claim, you should contact an attorney at Moon Law Group as soon as possible. Doing so can ensure that your claims are filed on time.

Contact a Los Angeles Age Discrimination Attorney Today

After experiencing workplace discrimination or a hostile work environment based on your age, you deserve to seek financial compensation and other relief from your employer or prospective employer. Contact Moon Law Group today for a free, confidential consultation with a Los Angeles age discrimination attorney. Discover more about your rights and how to pursue an age-related complaint or action against your employer.