Are Employers Targeting Older Workers for Termination?

So suggest this article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Here's a taste:

Cross' firing and the ensuing age-bias litigation is a scenario being repeated across the country as companies' streamlining efforts take their toll on baby boomers who want to stay on the job but whose salaries make them targets for layoffs . . . .

The large number of baby boomers in the work force is helping to drive what some lawyers see as a steady rise in the number of age-bias complaints.

According to the Census Bureau, there were 78.2 million baby boomers as of July 1, 2005. Many boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964, have fought for civil rights, are bolder than the previous generation, and will stand up for themselves when they fall victim to what they see as unfair treatment.

"It's shocking and hurtful to them," said Donna L. Harper, a plaintiffs' lawyer with Sedey Harper P.C. in St. Louis. "It's like being cheated on by a spouse. You find out and you are sick to your stomach. It is such a betrayal for so many of these clients. Your whole world falls apart. A job is like that to people."

There are, however, fewer age bias discrimination claims being reported by the EEOC in recent years, but some believe that these numbers under-represent the problem because many cases go through state administrative processes or settle before being reported.  There is also a chance that more claims will be filed with the recognition of disparate impact claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) after the 2005 Smith case (although succeeding under such claims is likely to be exceedingly difficult).

In any event, with many in the baby boomer generation at or reaching retirement, expect the number of these types of lawsuits to increase as industries continue to go through growing pains and engage in reduction-in-forces (RIFs).

Hat Tip:  Kara Lincoln

PS