Employees over 40 years old are protected under both the federal Age Discrimination Employment Act, and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. These laws only protect people age 40 and above. If you live in the Bay Area, and you have been fired because you are over 40 years old you may have an employment claim against your boss.

Age discrimination is often times more complicated than other types of discrimination. For example, it is not illegal for a company to replace people that are earning more money with people who earn less because they have less seniority. Often times, this results in firing older workers and replacing them with younger workers. If age, and not salary, is the real reason for the replacement this is illegal. However, in this scenario, the employee must be able to prove that their boss’ motivation for firing was age and not wage.

‘Golden Handshakes’ are also generally not illegal. These are special agreements that are given to employees who agree to retire at an earlier age. This is not per se illegal. However, if the employee can show that their employer’s motivation for the retirement was to purge the company of older workers, then the ‘golden handshake’ may be illegal.

If you are over 40 years old and believe that your employer fired you because of your age you may have a claim against your employer. Contact discrimination attorneys Law Offices of David H. Greenberg at 1-888-204-1014. Call us for a free consultation. You can also visit us at www.discriminationattorney.com to learn more. We are here to help you!