Question

Bob works for Jet Skis Incorporated, and is the top salesperson for the past five years. The manager Bill tells Bob “I have to let you go, good luck finding a new job.” Bob asks why and Bill says “You are an at-will employee, I do not have to give you a reason.” Bob, who is 44 years old, notices three other employees were also terminated, all identified as Hispanic ethnicity, over 40 years of age. Does Bob have any actionable claim he can file against the company? Explain what is the bases of his claim?

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Zoey Responded with:

I’m hopeful that Bill is not a manager in the HR department! Bob absolutely has an actionable item against Bill and Jet Skis, Inc. for several reasons that he must prove – which should not be hard based on the information presented. Federal and state discrimination statues prohibit employers (except in the state of Montana) from basing employment decisions on an employee’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or veteran status.[1] Although the laws governing employment vary from state to state (and Country to Country), there are a few basic elements for Employment-At-Will (or Termination-At-Will) suggesting that employers may dismiss at will for good cause, for no cause, or even for a cause that is morally wrong. However, there are limitations to employment-at-will which can include fixed-term contracts as well as proscriptive and retaliatory statutes. The proscriptive limitations generally prohibit discharge based on employee characteristics, such as laws barring discrimination on the basis of age, race, or disability. On the other hand, retaliatory statutes bar discharge in response to something an employee has done, such as whistle-blower protection or laws prohibiting a company from firing an employee who has filed a workers’ compensation claim.[2] Additionally, the reason for dismissal must not violate federal or state law.[3]

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older.[4] - Bob is 44 years old. The Equality Act of 2010 says that you must not discriminate based on color, nationality (including citizenship), ethnic or national origins, and racial groups.[5] - the given scenerio presents Bob as one of four employees terminated who are all of Hispanic ethnicity and all over the age of 40. Without additional information, it does appear that the EEOC would at least open an investigation into Bob's termination.  Bill's actions would be very difficult to defend in court without written and substantiated documentation for the termination of the employees.

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Now for chegg, I want you to respond to Zoey in a minimum of two paragraphs or more. Focus on Zoey's statement and respond to that.

Answer 1

Employment at will means that an employee can be terminated at any time without any reason and without notice. That said, most employers won't fire an employee without cause. Most firings are considered termination for cause, which means the employee is fired for a specific reason. your employer does not have to give you a reason. But in most cases, if you're fired your employer must give you a written notice of termination. And in some cases, they can fire you without giving you notice. Termination without cause occurs when an employee is terminated from a job not because they have necessarily done anything wrong, but because the employer has decided, for whatever reason, that it no longer needs the employee's services.

No matter what kind of case, motive is difficult to prove in law. Employment discrimination and wrongful termination cases are difficult to win because the employee must prove that the employer acted with a specific illegal motivation (i.e. the employee was fired because of his race, sex, national origin, etc.)

Discrimination in employment involves three basic elements: it must be a decision not based on individual merit, the decision must derive from racial or sexual prejudice, and the decision must have a harmful impact on the interest of employees. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from asking about ethnicity, race and national origin. ... Some employers unfortunately use pictures or ethnicity questions to profile minority applicants. In addition to this, it is illegal to inquire about a candidate religion..

If you are 40 years of age or older, and you have been harmed by a decision affecting your employment, you may have suffered unlawful age discrimination. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), discussed below at number 2, is a federal law that protects individuals 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age. Here are some examples of potentially unlawful age discrimination:

· You didn't get hired because the employer wanted a younger-looking person to do the job.

· You received a negative job evaluation because you weren't "flexible" in taking on new projects.

· You were fired because your boss wanted to keep younger workers who are paid less.

· You were turned down for a promotion, which went to someone younger hired from outside the company, because the boss says the company "needs new blood."

· When company layoffs are announced, most of the persons laid off were older, while younger workers with less seniority and less on-the-job experience were kept on.

· Before you were fired, your supervisor made age-related remarks about you, such as that you were "over-the-hill," or "ancient."

If any of these things have happened to you on the job, you may have suffered age discrimination.

Elderly and youthful employees sometimes experience age discrimination in the workplace. Ageism, is stereotyping and discriminating against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. Employers are generally not allowed to hire, fire, promote, or decide an employee’s compensation based on their age. However, it can be difficult to determine whether an employer’s actions were motivated by age discrimination, or by a genuine belief that another person can perform a particular job better. Every state except South Dakota has a law prohibiting age discrimination in the workplace. Forty-three state laws include age within their omnibus anti-discrimination laws, meaning the same standards and damages apply in age cases as they do in other state law discrimination cases. Thirty-two state laws provide for either compensatory and/or punitive damages, with 21 states providing for both. For more information about laws in your state, check out our Age Discrimination: State Law page.

Workers who are 40 years of age or older are protected by the ADEA from employment discrimination based on age, if the employer regularly employs 20 or more employees.Many states also make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of age; however, the minimum number of employees needed to bring a claim varies. For more information, please see our page on the minimum number of employees needed to file a claim under your state law. If two workers are both protected by the ADEA, an employer still may not use age as the basis for an employment decision. For example, a company can't hire a 45-year-old over a 62-year-old simply because of age; if the company hired the younger employee due to her age, the 62-year-old employee would still have a claim. The ADEA's protections apply to both employees and job applicants. If you are a current employee over 40 and are fired or not promoted due to age, you are protected. If you are not hired due to age, you are also protected. Under the ADEA, there has to be a valid reason -- not related to age -- for all employment decisions. Examples of valid reasons would be poor job performance by the employee or an employer's economic trouble. In the case of layoffs, a company cannot use age as the basis for determining who is laid off and who is kept on. If most people who are laid off are 40 or older, and the majority of workers kept on are younger, there may be a basis for an ADEA complaint or lawsuit, especially if the employer has hired younger workers to take the places of workers over 40.