Men and woman in California and elsewhere who have been working for many years are typically valuable assets to companies due to the vast amount of knowledge and expertise they have accumulated. However, older workers are generally higher up on the income ladder than their younger colleagues. For this reason, getting rid of older workers is often a tactic used to bring about company savings. A business in another state is facing an employment discrimination lawsuit that was filed by a scientist who believes she was fired because of her age.
The lawsuit shows the plaintiff’s excellent work performance at the defendant’s company earned her many acknowledgements, awards and promotions from 1990 through 2010. She contends that, after a management change and despite her exemplary work, she received no further promotions or acknowledgements from 2010 through 2013. She alleges that during this time the new manager took to discriminating against her age and gender.
The complaint further states that in July 2013 the manager accused the plaintiff of discrediting a fellow employee in an anonymous email. She alleges that after a phony investigation into this matter and without any evidence against her she was fired. For these reasons, the scientist filed the lawsuit claiming deprivation of recognition and unjust termination from the plaintiff’s company.
This woman, who was older than 40 at the time of her dismissal, seeks an unspecified amount of compensation for back and front pay, loss of benefits, emotional distress and legal expenses. Employers are barred from withholding promotions and benefits based on an employee’s age, and an employee’s age may not be the basis for dismissal. Proving employment discrimination can produce unique challenges and typically requires a serious effort of digging for evidence. For this reason, the assistance of an experienced California employment attorney may be invaluable.
Source: pennrecord.com, “Scientist sues PPG Industries Inc. alleging gender and age discrimination“, Carrie Bradon., Nov. 23, 2015