There have been cases where someone was 18, and they apply for a job and [the employer] says, “You’re too young, possibly too inexperienced.” And they said, “That’s age discrimination.” And the court said, “Well, no that’s not,” because the protected category is defined in the statute as 40 and above.
Now let’s say you’re 60 and you feel you’ve been discriminated against based upon your age, you would ideally want the discriminator to be under 40. Helps make your case that there’s discrimination.
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…[T]hey said, “That’s age discrimination.” And the court said, “Well, no that’s not…”
However he doesn’t have to be under 40 to become liable, he just has to be significantly younger. So he could be 47 and discriminated against a 60-year-old and it would still be an active case.
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John Bolanovich is an Orlando commercial litigation and employment law attorney with Bogin, Munns & Munns, a full service law firm with offices in Orlando, Clermont, Cocoa, Kissimmee, Orange City, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Melbourne, Gainesville, Titusville, St. Cloud, The Villages, and Leesburg. He welcomes questions and comments regarding the above and can be reached at jbolanovich@boginmunns.com.
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