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Facebook sued for age discrimination

On Sept. 22, Facebook was hit with an age discrimination lawsuit that was filed in California by a former employee. A representative for the social media website did not immediately issue a statement about the complaint, and it is unclear what the plaintiff’s job title was.

The 52-year-old plaintiff alleges that age discrimination was an ongoing problem while he worked for Facebook. He claims that, while he was employed with Facebook, several employees over the age of 50 were fired and replaced with younger workers. The plaintiff claims that management told him that the older workers were fired because they were a “poor cultural fit” and because they “didn’t move fast enough”.

After he complained to his supervisors about what he saw as age discrimination, the plaintiff says that he was treated unfairly at work. Managers allegedly accused the plaintiff of being unfocused. The plaintiff also says that supervisors deliberately assigned him a project that he was unprepared for so that they would have reason to terminate his employment. According to the plaintiff, management told him that he would be fired and offered to give him $36,000 if he would relinquish his age discrimination claims.

Federal law protects the rights of employees who are at or over the age of 40. If older workers suspect that they were fired because of their age, a lawyer may be able to help them determine whether unlawful age discrimination occurred. If a violation of the law can be demonstrated, they may be able to pursue financial compensation for their lost wages and other damages.

Source: ABC News, “52-year-old man accuses Facebook of age discrimination in lawsuit“, City News Service, Sept. 22, 2017