Is it illegal to ask a volunteer for their birthdate on a contact form
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Is it illegal to ask a volunteer for their birthdate on a contact form
I work for a community theater and we use a person’s date of birth to determine
their eligibility for auditions e.g. whether to send them information for a
children’s show or not. I was told it is illegal for us to ask for their date of
birth on an online audition form. Please advise.
Asked on September 6, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
It is not illegal. You cannot discriminate in employment based on a person being age 40 or older, which makes asking for their birthday on an employment application very problematic--while simply inquiring into age is not automatically illegal, if an older person were not hired, a common inference would be that it was due to his/her age. Therefore, for employment, it is very unwise to ask about age.
But you question indicates that you asking volunteers for "community theatre." If they are not paid for performing and this is not employment, there is nothing illegal about this.
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