Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Re: Asked to find a new job or be fired

I am sorry to hear about your situation. You have rights but you have to document and complain. At this time the only person documenting and complaining is your boss.

If you are ready to take the leap and are ready to take the boss on, I suggest you right a formal complaint letter to your boss's supervisor and Human Resources claiming you are the victim of age discrimination. I think you need to establish the following:

- Good work history. Good performance.

- Boss support of your performance but advisement of termination.

- Age break down of staff hired by boss, let go by boss and retained by the boss. As you know the protection age is 40. Since it does not appear your boss made overt age discriminatory comments you need clear evidence of age discrimination based on hiring/firing practices based on age.

- Feeling you are being discriminated against because of your age. Fearfully of termination which is not based on performance but your age. Ask for an investigation and remedy of the matter.

Please note, sending a complaint letter has to be your decision 100%, your words, your thoughts, the truth and you have to be aware that it will change everything - maybe for the better or worse.

Should you feel you need legal advise or counsel, you are welcome to contact our office or an attorney in your area. Best of luck.

Sincerely, Beth Mora

Re: Asked to find a new job or be fired

One of the things attorneys often do is write letters to the employer, articulating the reasons why we believe the employer has violated our clients' rights and offering a solution to rectify it.

In response to your question, once presented with the problem, an option that can be addressed is allowing the employee to leave on his own terms, with a severance package in place. The terms are kept confidential and the employee signs a release promising not to sue.

Many prudent employers are willing to entertain these offers, as long as both sides are reasonable in their approach. It avoids the ugliness of having to fabricate a papertrail to justify terminating the employee and the potential consequences of a lawsuit.

Some employers view this as a form of extortion (which it is not) and absolutely refuse to negotiate. You have to have a feel for who you are dealing with. Either way, you would have to brace yourself for consequences.

You should consult with an experienced employment law attorney in your area to discuss your best options.

Re: Asked to find a new job or be fired

Keep in mind that you are an 'at will' employee that can be fired any time, with or without reason, unless you can show the firing to be illegal. IF you could somehow show this is age discrimination, or at least show some facts indicating it might be [being 48 is a start on that process], then you could at least buy some time by having an attorney contact the company with a letter demanding a negotiation of the situation. Feel free to contact me if that is your choice.