The recession has led to more people filing lawsuits on the basis of age discrimination. However, that hasn’t translated into higher damages or awards for these people. In fact, it has been just the opposite. Jurors, many of who are likely to have been laid off at some point over the past couple of years, are likely to sympathize with plaintiffs, but less likely to attach a huge award to the plaintiff’s losses.
The number of age discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reached a 10-year high in 2009. But, plaintiffs in a variety of industries are finding it hard to take their age bias-related lawsuits before a jury. In many of these cases, it’s highly likely that the jurors have lost their jobs or have been able to find re-employment recently, and while there is empathy for the plaintiff’s position, jurors are less likely to hand out huge awards.
It’s a difficult situation that has had many people with age discrimination complaints feeling the impact. Last month saw a relatively rare occurrence. In a high-profile age bias lawsuit, a court sided with a former Google employee, who alleged that he had been subjected to discrimination at Google’s workplace. The basis of the lawsuit was that colleagues and coworkers at Google constantly made disparaging remarks about his age, and called him fuddy-duddy and other such terms.
Surprisingly to employment lawyers, the court decided not to apply the “stray remarks“ doctrine in this case, and sided with the employee. The “stray remarks” doctrine disallows courts from considering remarks made by colleagues, employers or coworkers in passing, and which have nothing to do with the decision-making process in the company.
However, any Los Angeles employment attorney would caution plaintiffs against over optimism and enthusiasm over the Google verdict. In a tough economy, judges and jurors alike are likely to view layoffs as an acceptable part of company survival, and are less likely to award damages to persons who feel they have been discriminated against.
