4 ms·

This is America. Get litigious! Things are illegal for a reason. They can't ask about your age or family status. When your CEO gets up and says "We don't hi

by seiji 14y ago

This is America. Get litigious! Things are illegal for a reason. They can't ask about your age or family status. When your CEO gets up and says "We don't hire anybody over 28 years old," a dozen lawsuits should be filed within a week. It's amazing people let other people get away with ruling the world this way. *edit: I had over/under switched in the CEO quote. Fixed.

aaronblohowiak 14y ago
Most states' (and federal) law protects older, not younger, workers... in many jurisdictions that means being over 40.
- chc 14y ago
  Are the laws really that specific? I thought the way it generally worked was that discrimination based on age was illegal, but being young is viewed as a proxy for inexperience, so discriminating on that basis is OK. I didn't know there was generally a specific cutoff.
  - Domenic_S 14y ago
    They are indeed. > The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) only forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states do have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination. http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm
  - xanados 14y ago
    Under U.S. federal law, age discrimination not only protects exclusively the old against the young, it also protects only those over 40.[1] Discrimination in the workplace and in public policy against the young is a big problem (in the moral sense, perhaps not an economic sense) that really has, as far as I can tell, political recognition among essentially no one. 1: http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm
cookiecaper 14y ago
What's "family status"? AFAIK there is no protected "family status". The typical protected classes are race, sex, religion, age, and in some places, sexual orientation.
- seiji 14y ago
  Usually "married with kids" or "are going through a divorce" or "has really sick parents/children they take care of." Note: It's completely acceptable to discriminate against your boss though. If your boss is going through his fourth divorce and has 8 kids, maybe you don't want to work there.
- Domenic_S 14y ago
  You shouldn't ask because you can't discriminate "because of marriage to, or association with, an individual of a particular race, religion, national origin, or an individual with a disability" (Title VII). You don't know if the interviewee is married to a Muslim, an invalid, etc -- if they are, you're open to a lawsuit claiming that was the basis of your discrimination. Just don't ask!
- raldi 14y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class Bullet point #7. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_discrimination_law_in_the_United_States#State_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_discrimination_law_i...
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - sbov 14y ago
    Note that bullet point #7 only seems to apply to housing. For the second link, it seems like most include protection for marriage status, but almost none for familial status. I'm not sure how that translates in this scenario.

by seiji 14y ago

aaronblohowiak 14y ago

Most states' (and federal) law protects older, not younger, workers... in many jurisdictions that means being over 40.

chc 14y ago
Are the laws really that specific? I thought the way it generally worked was that discrimination based on age was illegal, but being young is viewed as a proxy for inexperience, so discriminating on that basis is OK. I didn't know there was generally a specific cutoff.
- Domenic_S 14y ago
  They are indeed. > The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) only forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states do have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination. http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm
- xanados 14y ago
  Under U.S. federal law, age discrimination not only protects exclusively the old against the young, it also protects only those over 40.[1] Discrimination in the workplace and in public policy against the young is a big problem (in the moral sense, perhaps not an economic sense) that really has, as far as I can tell, political recognition among essentially no one. 1: http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm

cookiecaper 14y ago

What's "family status"? AFAIK there is no protected "family status". The typical protected classes are race, sex, religion, age, and in some places, sexual orientation.

seiji 14y ago
Usually "married with kids" or "are going through a divorce" or "has really sick parents/children they take care of." Note: It's completely acceptable to discriminate against your boss though. If your boss is going through his fourth divorce and has 8 kids, maybe you don't want to work there.
Domenic_S 14y ago
You shouldn't ask because you can't discriminate "because of marriage to, or association with, an individual of a particular race, religion, national origin, or an individual with a disability" (Title VII). You don't know if the interviewee is married to a Muslim, an invalid, etc -- if they are, you're open to a lawsuit claiming that was the basis of your discrimination. Just don't ask!
raldi 14y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class Bullet point #7. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_discrimination_law_in_the_United_States#State_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_discrimination_law_i...
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- sbov 14y ago
  Note that bullet point #7 only seems to apply to housing. For the second link, it seems like most include protection for marriage status, but almost none for familial status. I'm not sure how that translates in this scenario.