Chief Executives and high-ranking corporate officers such as Vice Presidents may be lulled into believing they are insulated from age discrimination particularly when they have recently received bonuses and have a long, successful employment history with the company. However, government statistics reveal a huge gap between those who remain employed in these upper level positions before and after they are 54 years of age. See NJ Age Discrimination Attorney, Qualified and Experienced IT Specialists Fired Due to Age.
Don’t sit on your rights. If you think your employer has fired you, or is considering terminating you because of your age, you should contact this law office immediately for a free consultation. See NJ Age Discrimination Attorney, I Think I Was Fired Because of My Age, How Can I Prove It? This law office accepts cases from all over New Jersey and has locations in Southern, Central and Northern NJ to meet with clients. Call today for a free consultation.
Statistics on Chief Executives after Age 54
According to 2024 statistics collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average age of Chief Executives in the United States is 52.2 years. The total number of Chief Executive employees among all ages is 1,728,000. Among Chief Executives in all age groups, after the age group of those ages 45 to 54 years, there is a significant reduction in the rate of those employed after age 54. See New Jersey Age Discrimination Lawyer.
There is a further reduction rate after the age group of 55 to 64 years. In 2024, the number of employed Chief Executives ages 55 to 64 years was 489,000. but after age of 64, there were fewer than half, only 218,000. This reduced employment rate occurs across all business and financial operations occupations and is prominent throughout the tech industry, both public and private. See NJ Age Discrimination Attorney, Public IT Administrators and Age Discrimination.
Cases brought by 50-year-old employees who were replaced by 40-year-olds are not uncommon, especially when the job involves technology. In one such case, a 58-year-old Vice President of Technology was replaced by a 45-year-old, and he subsequently filed a claim for age discrimination. He was a member of the protected class of age, he suffered an adverse employment action by being terminated, and he was replaced by someone substantially younger. The employer alleged that his age had nothing to do with the termination decision, but because they were not satisfied with the Vice President’s job performance. The District Court found against the employee, former Vice President, and granted the employer summary judgment, and dismissed the case.
The employee then appealed to US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. On appeal, the critical issues were whether the Vice President’s, Plaintiff’s, evidence showed that he was meeting his employer's legitimate expectations and whether he had established that the employer’s alleged reasons for his termination were bogus, an excuse to hide discrimination, what is known as a pretext in the law. Inman v. Klockner Pentaplast of America Inc., 347 Fed. Appx. 955 (2009). If the employee had evidence from which a jury could conclude that the real reason he was fired was his age, the jury could also conclude that the deficiencies that the employer claimed existed in the employee's work were exaggerated to cover up the age-based motivation for his termination. The employee had to show that any such deficiencies were not sufficient to prevent adequate and acceptable job performance. On appeal, the court held that the Vice President employee had presented sufficient evidence that the employer’s proffered reasons for his termination were mere pretext for discrimination. Other evidence supported the conclusion that the employee's age was the actual reason for his termination.
The Plaintiff in this matter had worked for the company for a long time, seventeen years, starting as a manager in training before eventually becoming head of its technical department. He was also a member of its Steering Team, an executive committee comprised of senior leadership that managed the company.
Fifteen years later, there was a new formal President of company’s North and South American Operations, after having served unofficially in that capacity for a few months. The President always appreciated the Vice President’s technical skills, but did not think highly of his leadership style, and made proposals for the Vice President to implement changes in the technical department's computer system. The Vice President resisted these proposals, however, believing they were not necessary because of certain historical information kept on the technical department's computer system. The Plaintiff had explained in his deposition that the proposal was "very minimal in value, very sophomoric in its content, nothing of value," and that the President lacked the training to understand these issues. Inman v. Klockner Pentaplast of America Inc. at 8.
The President terminated the Vice President, alleging deficiencies that existed in his work as the reason. On appeal, the former Vice President said he had been told during the termination meeting that he "did not fit the 'profile' or 'model' of what is needed in a technical leader in terms of presentation to potential buyers of the company." He also claimed the President told him that the company needed a "more energetic person" as leader of the technical department, "for the appearance of a revitalized company." Inman v. Klockner Pentaplast of America Inc. at 8.
The Appeals Court found that the Vice President received bonuses every year and there was evidence tending to show that he had been adequately performing his job responsibilities, and that he was singled out for praise by the President at a company gathering just a couple of weeks before they fired him. Because the employee had evidence from which a jury could conclude that the real reason he was fired was his age, the jury could also conclude that the alleged deficiencies that existed in his work were exaggerated to cover up the age-based motivation for the termination. The Appeals Court found in favor for the former Vice President, and it reversed the District’s Court’s grant of summary judgment against him, and remanded the case for further proceedings.
Some companies will issue harsh, unjustified performance evaluations, see Employee Performance Evaluations, in a deceptive scheme to be later relied upon as an excuse to terminate. In addition to biases based on age, there are also prejudices, based on ignorance and decades of misconceptions, against older Chief Executives and Senior Executives if they have a disability or are perceived to be disabled even though they can perform their job. See New Jersey Disability Discrimination Lawyer.
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.
What You Can Do.
If you are being subjected to unlawful workplace discrimination and/or were fired, contact Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law today for a free consultation. I have represented numerous employees who were discriminated against and I was successful in recovering multiple six-figure financial compensation for their emotional pain and suffering, and moneys for lost wages, both for past lost wages and projected future lost wages. I accept 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.