The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is investigating a federal lawsuit filed by Cheryl Fillekes, a systems engineer who interviewed with but was not hired by Google when she was 47 years old. Silicon Valley is still in the national spotlight for its lack of racial diversity and gender diversity. Google recently released the breakdown of its workforce by race and gender for a third time, but has not disclosed a breakdown by age. As the technology world continues to grow, it is known that tech leaders seem to show a preference for younger workers and highlights the problems of ageism in Silicon Valley. Fillekes joined an age discrimination lawsuit filed in April 2015 by an individual aged 60 who was turned down for a software engineering job in 2011. The lawsuit cites a survey of employees by Payscale.com that estimates median age of Google’s workforce to be 29 years old. Employment discrimination against applicants or workers based on protected classes, such as age or sex, is illegal. Pao v. Kleiner Perkins was a gender discrimination suit filed in 2012 which gained significant public attention. Ultimately, Pao’s former employer won the case but it called attention to systemic problems for workers in Silicon Valley. These are just a couple examples of discrimination that should serve as a reminder to both employers and employees that discrimination and/or harassment at work are still major problems in 2016. Preventing future discrimination can begin with knowing what discrimination is, what sexual harassment is, what are the current laws against discrimination, how to report it, and how having an attorney could help. Employment lawyers and law firms in the Kansas City, Missouri area may be able to assist if you are experiencing discrimination on the job.
Source: By Jessica Guynn; From USA Today
