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More software engineers over age 40 may join a lawsuit against Google

wodencafe 10y ago
Good, this "Age Bias" trend is worrisome and more attention should be brought to it. I wish them luck in their lawsuit.
dsacco 10y ago
Hey dang, could we change the title to something closer to the actual title ("More engineers over 40 may join lawsuit against Google")? It doesn't seem neutral in my opinion. As written, the title implies that Google is guilty of doing this, but it's still unclear what the outcome of the case will be (as the article itself states). The only update here is that a judge ruled that this could become a collective action. It remains to be seen what the ruling will be.
- insomniacjunkie 10y ago
  I don't necessarily think that saying "Google sued over refusing to employ engineers over 40 years of age" implies guilt or innocence - it merely states the subject of the lawsuit. Nonetheless, you are right, it is an editorialized version of the actual article's title. I have changed the title.
cyberferret 10y ago
As a 49.9 year old programmer who is only just getting used to being ignored by startups and journalists, I can sympathise and support this. But the onus of proof is going to be difficult to come by, isn't it? Unless the HR rep has specifically said "You are too old to be employed here" then they can simply cite a myriad of other excuses as to why they couldn't employ you. Will be interesting to see what the published median age of developers at Google is. The article said 29 but I wonder if that is an official figure or done via some other form of guesstimation.
- tracker1 10y ago
  I somewhat agree... There's definitely a different response you get when you say you have two decades of experience... Some strong assumptions come with that. The harder part still is when you don't even get any response at all. You just don't know, and it's hard to tell for certain. Legally age discrimination isn't allowed, but proving it is nearly impossible. Of course given the background of the people behind the suit, it's pretty easy to show given the number of times they reached out and only after face to face interviews declined to offer a position. As someone who's not getting any younger (42), fat, and doesn't have a formal education, three things that shouldn't be a factor in my job. They really do count against you.
sverige 10y ago
Yeah, requiring graduation dates so they can know an applicant's age, and telling the applicant that's the reason, is pretty blatant. Unsurprising though.
- mburshteyn1 10y ago
  good thing I took my sweet time getting through school.
cyberferret 10y ago
To all those younger programmers who might drift by these sorts of articles saying "Don't care, not my problem" - I can guarantee with 100% absolute total certainty that (unlike other racial or gender etc. bias issues) this one WILL become your problem in the future unless you become part of the movement to stamp it out...
beaubrummell 10y ago
I was hired by Google in 2007 at the ripe old age of 43. I worked there for 8 years and there were lots of people who were my age or older and we were never treated with anything but respect by everyone at the company. I think this is simply sour grapes by some people who couldn't make the cut.
- savvyraccoon 10y ago
  So as soon as you turned 51, they just got rid of you.
  - beaubrummell 10y ago
    Not really. Our team spun off and my boss worked really hard to keep me. My good friend left last year to go to a startup and just rejoined there (working for You Tube) at the age of 53.
greenyoda 10y ago
Extensive discussion of an earlier article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12661187 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12661187
barpet 10y ago
In Europe I feel it's the opposite. I am being discriminated by being too young (25). Most companies here are looking for people in (30 - 50+). I think this is a cultural thing US vs Europe.In US they want to take advantage of young,enthusiastic (meaning lower wages, more flexibility and so on)..In Europe they are taking of advantage of older employees differently (they have families so they will think twice before job hopping etc). Age bias is the worst.
jcslzr 10y ago
The reason 40+ don't get hired is that the first thing the guy hiring worries about its not hiring someone who can take his job.

Good, this "Age Bias" trend is worrisome and more attention should be brought to it. I wish them luck in their lawsuit.

Hey dang, could we change the title to something closer to the actual title ("More engineers over 40 may join lawsuit against Google")? It doesn't seem neutral in my opinion. As written, the title implies that Google is guilty of doing this, but it's still unclear what the outcome of the case will be (as the article itself states). The only update here is that a judge ruled that this could become a collective action. It remains to be seen what the ruling will be.

insomniacjunkie 10y ago
I don't necessarily think that saying "Google sued over refusing to employ engineers over 40 years of age" implies guilt or innocence - it merely states the subject of the lawsuit. Nonetheless, you are right, it is an editorialized version of the actual article's title. I have changed the title.

cyberferret 10y ago

As a 49.9 year old programmer who is only just getting used to being ignored by startups and journalists, I can sympathise and support this. But the onus of proof is going to be difficult to come by, isn't it? Unless the HR rep has specifically said "You are too old to be employed here" then they can simply cite a myriad of other excuses as to why they couldn't employ you. Will be interesting to see what the published median age of developers at Google is. The article said 29 but I wonder if that is an official figure or done via some other form of guesstimation.

tracker1 10y ago
I somewhat agree... There's definitely a different response you get when you say you have two decades of experience... Some strong assumptions come with that. The harder part still is when you don't even get any response at all. You just don't know, and it's hard to tell for certain. Legally age discrimination isn't allowed, but proving it is nearly impossible. Of course given the background of the people behind the suit, it's pretty easy to show given the number of times they reached out and only after face to face interviews declined to offer a position. As someone who's not getting any younger (42), fat, and doesn't have a formal education, three things that shouldn't be a factor in my job. They really do count against you.

sverige 10y ago

Yeah, requiring graduation dates so they can know an applicant's age, and telling the applicant that's the reason, is pretty blatant. Unsurprising though.

mburshteyn1 10y ago
good thing I took my sweet time getting through school.

cyberferret 10y ago

To all those younger programmers who might drift by these sorts of articles saying "Don't care, not my problem" - I can guarantee with 100% absolute total certainty that (unlike other racial or gender etc. bias issues) this one WILL become your problem in the future unless you become part of the movement to stamp it out...

beaubrummell 10y ago

I was hired by Google in 2007 at the ripe old age of 43. I worked there for 8 years and there were lots of people who were my age or older and we were never treated with anything but respect by everyone at the company. I think this is simply sour grapes by some people who couldn't make the cut.

savvyraccoon 10y ago
So as soon as you turned 51, they just got rid of you.
- beaubrummell 10y ago
  Not really. Our team spun off and my boss worked really hard to keep me. My good friend left last year to go to a startup and just rejoined there (working for You Tube) at the age of 53.

greenyoda 10y ago

Extensive discussion of an earlier article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12661187 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12661187

barpet 10y ago

In Europe I feel it's the opposite. I am being discriminated by being too young (25). Most companies here are looking for people in (30 - 50+). I think this is a cultural thing US vs Europe.In US they want to take advantage of young,enthusiastic (meaning lower wages, more flexibility and so on)..In Europe they are taking of advantage of older employees differently (they have families so they will think twice before job hopping etc). Age bias is the worst.

jcslzr 10y ago

The reason 40+ don't get hired is that the first thing the guy hiring worries about its not hiring someone who can take his job.