Age discrimination has always been a thing, but it’s gotten a boost from Covid.
78% of workers over the age of 55 say they have either seen or experienced age discrimination, and Texas employment trial lawyer Andy Trusevich says that has been especially true during Covid. “If you’re 55 or older and it is tough when are furloughed trying to come back to work or get a new job, and the reason for that is they don’t want to bring them back because they don’t want them on their health care plan.”
Trusevich says though age discrimination is common, cases almost never go to court. The deck is stacked. Corporations generally have arbitration agreements included in fine print with every employment form that is signed unnoticed by new hires, so complaints don’t go before a judge. “The employees never get a jury of their peers. They get someone in the dark, in a private conference room, where you don’t even get the evidence to prove your case, and the employers tend to win almost every time,” Trusevich explains.
Age discrimination is very hard to prove in a court of law: there has only been one case of age discrimination filed with the EEOC in 2021.
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