Age discrimination, refusal to hire.

[gmmn]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MN
I recently applied for a job and made it to a second and final interview and was denied employment with preference given to a younger less qualified applicant. This job is for city street maintenance/ sewer and water . The city was willing to hire a person with no waste-water treatment experience and train them over 3 years to obtain the needed certificates from the state to keep them in compliance from the MPCA. None of the applicants (including myself) had any waste-water treatment experience. My qualifications and experience were far greater than the applicant they selected for the job. I have 20 plus years of public service to the county that this city is located in. In short, I could have started the job without having to be trained, except for waste-water.
So those are the facts of the hiring process. Here are a few things that point to age discrimination in this case: When I asked the Public Works Director about applying for the job his first question was how old are you? I told him I was 50 and the next thing he told me was that He thought the city would be looking for a younger person to do the job. The second issue is that someone from the city told the union that they were looking for a young candidate for this position. I know this because I am a member of this same union and was a former union steward so I still have contacts that are very high up in the union. Thirdly, at my second interview they actually told me that they were looking for someone who could give them at least 15 years of service.

This is a small city where everyone knows everyone so I have firsthand knowledge of the experience and qualifications of the other applicants. I also called the City Administrator and told her I was confused at the hiring committee's decision and Her answer was that she didn't have a vote in the decision. When I asked what I did wrong or if I didn't interview well she told me that I didn't do anything wrong and I interviewed very well, but could't give me an answer why I wasn't hired. I suspect the City hired a younger person to try and get the most years of service out of their training investment.

Does anyone else think this smells fishy?

 

[adjusterjack]

Sure, it smells fishy.

I went through the same thing when I was in my 50s.

Suffice to say that thinking it and proving it are two different things.

You are free to file a complaint with the EEOC.

But in a small city where everybody knows everybody that could be the kiss of death for your career.

 

[commentator]

You know what? In the situation you describe, I would, actually, if I were you, and the city manager and all these people you've talked to and such have actually been as doggone stupid as to actually say the "ageist" things they've said, like how they'd like someone who could give them 15 or twenty more years, how they asked you how old you were when you asked about the job, etc. I would hire myself a darn good employment attorney. I would file a complaint against the city for not hiring me for the position due to age discrimination. I would let the attorney file the EEOC claim for me.

I have seen this work tremendously to people's advantage in several cases in my life. Really if it was to go through EEOC only, it'd be a bit tough, they actually have a standard of showing a "persistent pervasive pattern" of age discrimination, but this will probably scare the holy time out of the administration of this small city where everyone knows everyone else's business. You won't lose your job, they'd dare not fire you after something like this, and this will be the last job you'll have, anyhow, if you're over fifty in a small place. And they'll probably settle, and you'll come out to the better.

This is not the advice I'd give to most people, since most places where you think you're being discriminated against, you're not, or not to the point that the EEOC would step in, but I have become cognizant of the ability of attorneys and suits to bluff people who are not 100% up on how employment law works. As I see it, you have little to lose, and some to gain by getting yourself someone to pursue this for you.

 

[gmmn]

I agree, I can't believe that these people would actually say these things but they did, and telling the Business Agent for the union was a huge mistake. The MN Dept. of Human Rights and the EEOC have a work sharing agreement so if you file with one it is filed with the other. In MN the standards to prove ageism are much lower and it is easier to recover damages than the federal standards are.
So should my next move be a consult with a labor attorney?

 

[cbg]

It can't hurt