Legal Question in Discrimination Law in Massachusetts
Age discrimination?
I worked for Circuit City and have recently lost my job due to their closure. I am looking for employment opportunities in hopefully a retail environment, as that is where I excel at. Now, I recently went to Sears for an interview, and I finally got the job. They told me ''Congratulations, you will now work for Sears'', they told me what to wear, when I'll be starting, my department, and pay. I was then taken to a computer to fill out my tax forms. When the lady returned, she asked my age. I told her I was 17, and she told me i could no longer work there because I'm not 18. Now, a BFOQ is a legal exception to an otherwise discriminatory hiring practice that is ''reasonably necessary to the normal operation of a particular business.'' I doubt this is the case, as a Circuit City salesman performs the exacty same procedure as a Sears salesman. I am 17, but I do have a child I need to clothe and bathe. This is awfull hard to perform while unemployed. So basically, isn't that age discrimination? I also went for an interview at Best Buy, and they said Sears CANNOT do that. I can perform job duties as proven in my employment in Circuit City, thus proving the need for 18 year old employees is absolutely unneccesary. Thank you for your time.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Age discrimination?
Generally, only employees over forty years old are protected by laws prohibiting age discrimination in employment.
Re: Age discrimination?
The age discrimination protections are only applicable to employees who are over 40 yo.;)