Our Indiana readers may not spend much time following the news out of California, but workplace discrimination is the same problem regardless of the location. In today’s world, despite the best efforts of most, there are still employers who make the mistake of discriminating against an employee for one reason or another.
Recently, a jury awarded approximately $5.7 million to four servers from the Los Angeles, California, area who claim they were fired from a restaurant due to their age.
According to recent reports, a Superior Court jury awarded damages to the women, ranging in age from 49 to 70 years old. They noted that when new owners took over the business in 2012 they let all four of them go and subsequently hired women in their 20s.
On the other side of things, the restaurant owners, along with the help of their defense attorneys, stated that they did not do anything wrong. Attorneys for the restaurant made it known that the new owners retained more than 12 workers who were at least 75 years old at the time. Regardless of this claim, the jury still sided with the four women who were dismissed from their job as a server.
Age discrimination, along with discrimination related to age and sex, are still all too common in today’s world. This story out of California goes a long way in showing what happens in other states throughout the country. Anybody who feels they have been fired due to discrimination can consult with an attorney for advice on how to move forward.
Source: The Sacramento Bee, “Servers awarded $5.7M in age discrimination suit” No author given, Dec. 24, 2013
