4 ms·

When I was in my upper 30s I was mistakingly included in a reply-all email from someone who interviewed me and said I seemed kind of old for the position. I wa

When I was in my upper 30s I was mistakingly included in a reply-all email from someone who interviewed me and said I seemed kind of old for the position. I was ready to lose my shit on them but my wife made me wait a day before responding when she saw how angry I was. I was considering hiring a lawyer to sue the shit out of them for discrimination, but at the end of the day I brushed it off with a snarky "at least I'm experienced enough to double check who my illegal emails are going to" and told them I was reporting it to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (which I did). This was years ago, and I've always been well employed, but I'm still a little mad about it. I did find out through an acquaintance that the person who mistakingly sent that email was fired almost immediately and they were pretty worried about a lawsuit. The struggle is so real. It's insane.

hackits 8y ago
Playing devil advocate here. Have you considered you're too old? Maybe during the interview process they didn't consider the experience you could bring to the table with your knowledge and expertise would be a valuable asset to the business? You deferred all your decision making to your (sic) wife. You should really take a step back and consider are you able to make decision without the consultation of your significant other? To me, I would say the interviewer made a wise call and said he thought you where too old for the position. Your emotional outburst seems to be more a problem that the interviewer had a feeling about you? [Replying to the down votes] You cannot grow as a individual without having a open discussion.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
JauntTrooper 8y ago
I’m pretty sure protections against age discrimination only kick in federally if you’re 40 or older, though some states may expand it to younger workers.
- thisisweirdok 8y ago
  Maybe, but that seems kind of crazy as I had tangible proof of age discrimination. It's not like they'd say someone who was 38 was too old and someone who was 42 would suddenly not.
  - T-hawk 8y ago
    You have tangible proof of something that is simply legal by US federal labor law. The Age Discrimination In Employment Act only protects workers 40 and over. (State or local jurisdictions can differ, but few do.) The Equal Opportunity Commission may care morally but has no standing legally in this case. More generally, discrimination protections for employment are much narrower than commonly assumed to be. Discrimination is legal by default and becomes illegal only when a specific law cites a specific protected class. Some characteristics that are perfectly legal to discriminate on because there is no US law protecting the class: age under 40, smoking, obesity, height, car you drive, method of commuting, sports team favoritism.
stale2002 8y ago
Here is a question for you. What if instead of the situation that you were in, the opposite happened to a young developers. Ie, the employer used a euphemism to discriminate against someone because they were too young. Would this bother you? Or is it only your age group that you care about being discriminated against? TBH, young people are massively discriminated against, in all forms of jobs. It is merely accepted, though. When you treat people equally, the group in power may feel like they are being discriminated against, because they no longer have an advantage.
- thisisweirdok 8y ago
  You do realize that they didn't hire me because they preferred a young developer... right?
  - stale2002 8y ago
    And many many many others aren't hired because they are too young. It just bothers me that people always talk about a much less prevelant form of discrimination.
- chrisbennet 8y ago
  Employers absolutely love young people. They are cheap and exploitable! Of course if you replace “young” with “inexperienced” that’s different. They will discriminate against people who are inexperienced.
wolco 8y ago
You think they would give you an offer to avoid legal issues.
- EADGBE 8y ago
  That would have gone really well. Especially when the comment comes from someone you work with every day.

hackits 8y ago

Playing devil advocate here. Have you considered you're too old? Maybe during the interview process they didn't consider the experience you could bring to the table with your knowledge and expertise would be a valuable asset to the business? You deferred all your decision making to your (sic) wife. You should really take a step back and consider are you able to make decision without the consultation of your significant other? To me, I would say the interviewer made a wise call and said he thought you where too old for the position. Your emotional outburst seems to be more a problem that the interviewer had a feeling about you? [Replying to the down votes] You cannot grow as a individual without having a open discussion.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

JauntTrooper 8y ago

I’m pretty sure protections against age discrimination only kick in federally if you’re 40 or older, though some states may expand it to younger workers.

thisisweirdok 8y ago
Maybe, but that seems kind of crazy as I had tangible proof of age discrimination. It's not like they'd say someone who was 38 was too old and someone who was 42 would suddenly not.
- T-hawk 8y ago
  You have tangible proof of something that is simply legal by US federal labor law. The Age Discrimination In Employment Act only protects workers 40 and over. (State or local jurisdictions can differ, but few do.) The Equal Opportunity Commission may care morally but has no standing legally in this case. More generally, discrimination protections for employment are much narrower than commonly assumed to be. Discrimination is legal by default and becomes illegal only when a specific law cites a specific protected class. Some characteristics that are perfectly legal to discriminate on because there is no US law protecting the class: age under 40, smoking, obesity, height, car you drive, method of commuting, sports team favoritism.

stale2002 8y ago

Here is a question for you. What if instead of the situation that you were in, the opposite happened to a young developers. Ie, the employer used a euphemism to discriminate against someone because they were too young. Would this bother you? Or is it only your age group that you care about being discriminated against? TBH, young people are massively discriminated against, in all forms of jobs. It is merely accepted, though. When you treat people equally, the group in power may feel like they are being discriminated against, because they no longer have an advantage.

thisisweirdok 8y ago
You do realize that they didn't hire me because they preferred a young developer... right?
- stale2002 8y ago
  And many many many others aren't hired because they are too young. It just bothers me that people always talk about a much less prevelant form of discrimination.
chrisbennet 8y ago
Employers absolutely love young people. They are cheap and exploitable! Of course if you replace “young” with “inexperienced” that’s different. They will discriminate against people who are inexperienced.

wolco 8y ago

You think they would give you an offer to avoid legal issues.

EADGBE 8y ago
That would have gone really well. Especially when the comment comes from someone you work with every day.