Legal Question in Discrimination Law in California
RIF Age and Sex Discrimination
A company wide 10% reduction in force was undertaken by my employer. My department is made up of 8 people, 4 males and 4 females. Three people were terminated - all women over the age of 40. The only women remaining on the team is 24 years old. Is this likely an age and gender bias?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Discrimination by Reduction in Force
Could very well be. I hesitate to say "likely" because these cases are fact-intensive--I'd have to know more.
BUT . . . when a reduction in force takes place
and it falls MORE HARSHLY on a PROTECTED
class -- such as those of a particular gender or
those over 40 -- the RIF argument might very
well LIKELY be a pretext for
discrimination.
To give you a constructive answer, we would have
to know, at the very least, the job classifications of the 8 people, the job descriptions,
the credentials of the 8 individuals, the evaluations of the individuals (more than likely subjective rather than objective), and
the financials of the company.
Barbara C. Johnson
Attorney at Law, Andover, Massachusetts
False Allegations: http://falseallegations.com
Forever Fascinating: http://falseallegations.com/scstore/indexstr.htm
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