As the year 2023 wound down, much needed bills to promote civil rights were introduced in the Senate and the House. One of the most important bills protecting workers was introduced in the Senate to prohibit forced arbitration for many age discrimination claims. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), introduced the bipartisan “Protecting Older Americans Act,” which legislation would invalidate forced arbitration clauses that prevent age discrimination victims from seeking justice in a court and public accountability. The goal is to protect older workers from discrimination in employment by not shielding the employers and perpetrators of age discrimination, thus enabling their future illegal conduct, as well as providing fair recompense for the victims.
Some employers sneak an arbitration clause into employment applications, or ask employees to sign an arbitration agreement before or after they are hired for work as a condition of employment. If an employee signs one of these forced arbitration clauses, they give up their right to file a lawsuit against the employer who wants the dispute to be resolved through arbitration and not in a court proceeding because arbitration as a form of dispute resolution favors the employer. When employees waive their right to sue in court, it enables a culture of corporate reticence and secrecy that not only protects the perpetrators and harassers, but helps to perpetuate continuing heinous discriminatory policies of the employer. This proposed legislation follows lawmakers’ successful effort in the last Congress to invalidate forced arbitration employment agreements in cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault. For more on the law now in effect that prohibits forced arbitration of sexual harassment and assault in employment matters, read the article, Biden Signs Law Ending Forced Arbitration of Employee Sexual Harassment and Assault Cases.
If you are an employee who is experiencing age discrimination, don’t sit on your rights. If you think you are being discriminated against because of your age, you should contact this office today for a free consultation. I have represented numerous private and public employees who were discriminated against, and I was successful in recovering financial compensation for their emotional pain and suffering, and moneys for lost wages, both for past lost wages and projected future lost wages.
At least three out of four older workers have seen or experienced age discrimination on the job, but too often cannot pursue justice because of forced arbitration clauses in employment applications and contracts. This highly secretive process that provides no public publication, posting or disclosure, strips hard-working Americans of their constitutional right to a jury trial and is unfair to employees. The bipartisan Protecting Older Americans Act would ban forced arbitration in many cases of age discrimination. If the legislation gets signed into law, victims of age employment discrimination will have the ability to file their cases in a court, if they so choose. It would give them a voice in the process. Employers could no longer hide and perpetrate illegal conduct by forcing employees into arbitration. The proposed legislation stipulates that no predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law, which relates to an age discrimination dispute. Read text of bill here:
A caveat in the Protecting Older Americans Act, however, is that this bill seeking a ban on forced arbitration, only applies to those workers who are not less than 40 years of age. This 40-years-old, lowest age limit tracks the language of the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) which has the age of 40 written into the statute as the base lowest age that one may bring a lawsuit filed under the ADEA. The ADEA of 1967 prohibits age discrimination against workers who are 40 years of age or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination.
Note: if you are a New Jersey employee, this 40-years-old base year limitation does not apply under the state’s discrimination statute, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD). Employees under the age of 40 can and do file age discrimination lawsuits in courts under the NJLAD.
If You Resign, You May Lose Right to Prevail in a Lawsuit
In many instances of discrimination and retaliation, if you resign, you may lose right to prevail in a lawsuit unless you first take certain legally required measures to preserve your job while you are still employed. If you are thinking of resigning, or think you will be fired, or have been fired, you should contact this office immediately for a free consultation to discuss your options in the safest way for you.
If you are being subjected to such unlawful workplace age discrimination or believe you are being pushed out of your job, contact Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law today for a free consultation. I accept discrimination and whistleblower cases from all over New Jersey and have locations in Southern, Central and Northern NJ to meet with clients.
Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law represents workers throughout the entire state, including Hackensack, Jersey City, Newark, Irvington, Orange, East Orange, Trenton, Paterson, Montclair, Elizabeth, North Brunswick, Cherry Hill, Vineland, Union, Plainfield, Hamilton Township, Lakewood, Edison, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Franklin, Lakewood, and every NJ County, including Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, Essex, Monmouth, Somerset, Ocean, Union, Camden, Passaic, Morris, Gloucester, Atlantic, Burlington, Camden Counties.