What are my rights regarding possible job discrimination?
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What are my rights regarding possible job discrimination?
A job I applied for was given to someone who didn’t meet the minimum qualifications. One of the minimum qualifications was 5 years firefighting experience, the candidate that got the job only has 4 years and 3 months with the department. This was an internal job through a career department. I am over 40 and wonder if that is a reason I did not get it, even though I met and exceeded the minimum qualifications.
Asked on August 3, 2015 under Employment Labor Law, Kansas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
People over the age of 40 are protected from job discrmination: you cannot deny a job to somone over 40 simply due to their age (though of couse you could if they did not meet some other qualification, or there was a more-qualified candidate to hire). Based on what you write, if you met the qualifications and the person who was hired did not, this may be age discrimination; if it was, you may be entitled to the job or to monetary compensation. You should contact your state's equal/civil rights agency or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and file a complaint; the agency will, if they deem it credible, look into it for you and may help you get compensation; you could also, if you wanted, hire an employment law attorney and bring your own lawsuit, but the advantage of trying the agency route is that they do not charge for their services.
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