Age Discrimination
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits an employer from discriminating against you because of your age. This means you cannot be fired because of your age, and a potential employer cannot refuse to hire you because of your age. The trick is proving it!
Age discrimination claims often arise in the context of a layoff or reduction in force (RIF). It is not against the law for an employer to decide it needs to reduce its workforce. And in a bad economy, layoffs are unfortunately increasingly common. However, an employer may not use a legitimate RIF as an excuse to terminate its older workers.
In order to establish an age discrimination case, you must show that your age played a role in the decision making process and that it influenced the outcome of that process. Rarely is direct proof of discrimination found; so, discrimination cases are usually proved through indirect (circumstantial) evidence.
Proof of discrimination involves a three-step process. First, it is the employee's burden to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, the elements of a prima facie case of discrimination. To establish a primafacie case of age discrimination, a plaintiff must show:
(1) he or she was a member of the protected class - - age; (2) he or she was performing the job at a level that met the employer's legitimate expectations; (3) he or she was discharged; and (4) the employer sought another, younger person to perform the work.
Once an employee has established a prima facie case, a presumption is created that the employer unlawfully discriminated against the employee. The burden then shifts to the employer to rebut the presumption of discrimination by articulating a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employment action.
If the employer can do that, the burden shifts back to the employee to show that the employer's articulated reason is a "pretext" to mask the discrimination or was not the true motivating reason for the employment decision.
To prove pretext, the employee must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the employer's reason is not worthy of belief or that, more likely than not, it is not the true reason or the only true reason for the employer's action, and that the employee's age was the determinative and real factor for the employer's action. An employee need not prove that his age was the employer's sole or exclusive consideration but that his age made a difference in deciding to terminate him.
Taking Action:
Determining whether you have a claim for age discrimination requires the assistance of a professional. If you believe you are the victim of age discrimination, Zuckerman & Fisher, LLC is willing and able to help you. We are located in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, and we have experience statewide resolving all types of discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, whether through settlement or trial. So, contact us to set up an initial consultation. You can call us at 609.514.0514, or email us at ez@zuckfish.com (for Elizabeth Zuckerman, Esq.), or gwf@zuckfish.com (for George Fisher, Esq.). We will be happy to discuss your matter over the phone before you decide whether to schedule an initial consultation.
