Some of our recent posts have discussed the employment law matter of age discrimination in the workplace. A recent news story about a lawsuit against HP shows that ageism isn’t just a topic of legal conversation; it plays out in reality for some workers in the country.
A few former HP workers have banded together and are attempting to build a class action lawsuit against the giant tech company. Their claim? The former workers argue that they lost their jobs with HP due to their older ages.
As a past post notes, age discrimination laws say that an alleged victim must be at least 40 years of age. The plaintiffs in this employment discrimination lawsuit were all 40 or older when they lost their jobs at HP.
The ageism lawsuit suggests that HP’s management made comments and pursued hiring/firing practices that fostered a work environment wherein older workers weren’t desired. According to the claim, younger workers were targeted for hiring and the older workers were targets for job loss.
To succeed in their employment discrimination case, the former HP workers will have to show that there was no other reasonable cause for their terminations. For example, did the workers consistently fail to meet the business’ goals?
Age discrimination suits also hinge on the factor that the supposedly unethical practices by the employer must pose the measurable threat of habitually discriminating against older workers specifically. As this case continues, we will keep you updated with its developments and how details may or may not fit into these important case factors.
