When I began this blog, I predicted that the big area of employment litigation for the future was age discrimination. Because of the sheer number of  aging baby boomers, many would be retired or discharged, arguably in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). When I made this prediction, I didn’t see the Great Recession coming.

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According to the New York Times, manufacturers are desperate to hire workers again. In Cleveland, where 40,000 manufacturing jobs were lost during the Great Recession, only 4,500 jobs have been added since the first of this year. More would have been added if manufacturers could find qualified applicants. In one company, six machinests are urgently needed to run computer numerical control machines. Fifty people applied for these jobs, but none were qualified. None!

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Jon Hyman blogs about employment law and related subjects and mentioned in his most recent post my Age Discrimination–Solutions post (November 20).

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Or maybe some thoughts about solutions.

—Before firing an employee in the protected age group (particularly someone in his/her 50’s and 60’s) who has been with you a long time, you must get legal advice.

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Age discrimination will get a little more attention this week.

A hot topic in all kinds of companies and organizations these days is succession planning. Makes sense. Need leaders for the future. Can’t let the status quo hold us back. Infusion of new energy is good. Uh oh.

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OK, age discrimination is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. So, we’ll just buy off the old timers. You know what I mean. We’ll pay them some money in separation pay or in a severance package. They’ll sign an agreement containing the magic language required by the Older Workers’ Benefits Protection Act (so many days to review and so many days to revoke, depending on whether it’s the termination of a single employee or a group) and a release of all claims against the employer plus the agreement not to file a charge with the EEOC. It’ll cost us more money as the boomers age. But that’s just the cost of doing business.

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Some age discrimination cases are settled, and some are tried.  Either way, they’re dangerous, particularly if the EEOC gets interested.  Check out a settlement described on the EEOC’s website.  Go to www.eeoc.gov.  Type in EEOC v. Sidley Austin next to Search and click Go.  It’ll take you to an EEOC press release on this case.  This is a case that was hard fought (meaning it cost a lot of money) before a settlement was reached.  The amount of the settlement?  North of $27 million.

What’s the big employment lawsuit for the first half of the 21st century?  I can’t be sure, but I think a safe guess is age discrimination.

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Age discrimination will be a subject that gets some well-deserved attention in upcoming posts on this blog. To get you in the mood, consider a very recent case involving a well-known company. If you want to get the actual case, you can probably Google it. For now, consider a recent article on the case in the California Employment Law Letter:

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