Question

Arthur is in his mid-fifties. He is applying for a job at ABC Corp to be a software engineer. He meets all of the qualifications for the job. During the interview, it became obvious that the interviewer was worried that his computer skills and work speed would be negatively impacted by his age. One of the questions from the interviwer queried whether Arthur finds himself at disadvantage when working on projects with 20-year-old colleagues. Arthur did not get the job.

Does Arthur has a legal cause of action against ABC Corp? why or why not?

Answer 1

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) was passed to address discrimination in employment based upon Age. The ADEA prohibits employers with 20 or more employees from discriminating against employees who are 40 years of age and older. The Act protects against disparate treatment and policies that have a disparate impact on covered employees

Disparate Treatment – This involves direct discriminatory treatment of an employee by the employer (or the employer’s representative). The plaintiff must convince the court that the employer intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff. The plaintiff may demonstrate intent by showing that discrimination is a “substantial or motivating factor” for the employer’s action or decision.

In this case Arthur can prove age discrimination against him on the ground of statement made that whether he was comfortable working with 20 year old employees. He can also support his point with the fact that it was obvious from the interview that interviewer was worried about the speed and computer skills being slow due to the age factor, inspite of the fact that Arthur meets all job requirements.

However, Employer can defend himself on the ground that Arthur was rejected not because of age but due to some other issue like lack of required skills ( not speed linked to age factor), high salary expectations which was out of the company's Budget, joining date not suitable to both. Parties etc.