Age Discrimination
As Ms. Watts indicates in her post Age Discrimination: Can You Prove It? there has been a rise in Age discrimination complaints especially in light of the failing economy. Age discrimination can certainly be proven, but as Ms. Watts stated it is best for your attorney to decide whether to pursue the EEO process or bypass it and go directly to civil court.
I am knowledgeable of an individual who works for a very high profile government contractor on the West Coast. This individual was hired on years ago as the Fire Marshall for several different locations and facility around the town he is employed in. This gentlemen served in the roles of Captain of the local Fire Department for over 20 years, Code Enforcement Inspector with the state and county, Code Enforcement on the East Coast, Fire Captain with the County again and presently as Fire Marshall.
Recently the company he works for has stripped him from most of his essential duties including supervising staff, timekeeping, making decisions regarding fire code, acting positions (where his deputy, which he hired was placed in charge of him), and have stopped including him in management related decisions. These actions were taken in spite of the fact that he has an excellent performance rating and evaluation, received a pay increase/promotion within the past year and a half, was the sole individual responsible for getting this company through some major inspections by the Federal Government, etc.
His first and second level managers have also asked him several times over the past couple of months, since just before all this started, “(Name) when are you going to retire? Probably soon, huh?” Sounds like a pretty good set up for a constructive discharge to me. Get someone so frustrated and make the workplace so unbearable you finally quit because you can’t take it anymore. The individual serving as Fire Marshall is in his 60′s and the individual they have been pruning is considerably younger than he is.
Some things I would highly recommend (my personal opinion) to individuals serving in similar situations:
- Make sure you maintain good notes including time, date, location and exact situation as it occurred, word for word if possible.
- If you have witnesses make sure you record who they are and how to reach them.
- Ensure you are completely familiar with your company/agency EEO process and procedures. Know the statutory time limits for filing complaints of discrimination and when to make EEO contact.
- Do not resign from your position until the EEO process is through if at all possible.
- Obtain legal counsel to be your advocate as they know how the system works and can best represent you.
More information is available through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Website.
-Ray Campbell –
http://eeodiversity.wordpress.com/
