Oakland Employment Law Blog

A 60-year-old man claims in a lawsuit that his supervisor at STMicroelectronics, Inc. made remarks that could be considered ageism. The man said that his supervisor said that the ideal candidate for a job that he was interested in applying for wouldn't have enough experience to be inflexible in the position. In 2008, the plaintiff had held the same position that he was interested in applying for in 2013.

While most companies understand that they can't directly tell older workers not to apply for jobs, they have other ways to discourage them from applying. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), ageism is an issue that they will take a closer look at. One poll found that about two-thirds of workers between the age of 45 and 74 have experienced or seen age discrimination at work. It is said to be an open secret that this occurs at workplaces both large and small.

A jury in California awarded a man roughly $18 million in damages after finding that he had been wrongfully terminated. The 55-year-old had worked for Allstate Insurance for 30 years when he was let go months after being taken into custody by police. The incident occurred when his girlfriend wouldn't allow him to enter her home during a domestic dispute. He was originally charged with two counts of domestic violence as well as one count of drug paraphernalia possession.

However, two of the charges were dropped in January 2015 while the other was dropped later in the year. The company investigated the matter and determined in February 2016 that he had not violated any policies. After receiving a request from the man's former girlfriend for another investigation into the matter, he was terminated in the late spring of 2016.

Working parents in California are not alone in their concerns about how their pregnancy and parenthood will be treated by their employers on the job. Even U.S. senators may have reason to share in these concerns as has come to light following the pregnancy of Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the first senator to deliver a child while in office. She may be prevented from participating in deliberation and voting during her parental leave as senators must be physically present in order to vote and children are barred from the floor of the Senate, unlike many other national parliaments.

Numerous parents face some of the same problems, such as a lack of a formal paid parental leave policy, but without the advantage of a senatorial vantage point. Parents may face workplace discrimination due to their pregnancy or their parenting role despite existing protective civil rights legislation like the Pregnancy Discrimination Act or the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Workers throughout California and the rest of the country are supposed to be protected from disparate treatment in the workplace. However, even the nation's top companies sometimes fail their employees. According to a report from Reuters, there were 238 sexual harassment or gender disparity complaints made by female Microsoft employees between 2010 and 2016. This was revealed as details from a 2015 lawsuit against the company were recently made public. It claims that female workers were passed over for promotions or other opportunities.

Of the 118 gender discrimination claims, the complaint says only one was considered founded by the company. Microsoft says that the number of claims made and considered founded should not be made public as it could discourage others from coming forward. According to Pew Research, 50 percent of women working in tech/math fields say that they have experienced gender discrimination. This is about 10 percent higher than the rate for women in other fields.