employers beware

Employers beware!
The following item was posted under my age discrimination piece today: — There are couple of different ways to prove age discrimination: —

First, the employee may introduce evidence that the company reduced her salary to eliminate the cost of her comparatively high salary and benefits, but showing that this higher salary was primarily a function of age. However the Supreme Court has expressly held that an employer does not violate the ADEA by acting on the basis of a factor, such as an employee's pension status or seniority or salary, that is empirically correlated with age. Thus, when the employer's decision is wholly motivated by factors other than age, even if the motivating factor is correlated with age, that decision is not contrary to the ADEA. —

Second, the employee can try to prove her case under the burden-shifting scheme of McDonnell Douglas (a famous employment discrimination case). To establish a prima facie case under McDonnell Douglas, an ADEA plaintiff must show that: (1) she is in the protected age class; (2) she was discharged; (3) at the time of her discharge, she was performing her job at a level that met her employer's legitimate expectations; and (4) persons of her qualifications were retained in the same position. —In the context of a hiring decision, you would need to show: (1) you applied for the job, and the job was open; (2) you had the minimum qualifications for the job; (3) you were not hired; and (4) the job remained open, or a person younger than the protected age group was hired, who was less qualified. Posted by Linda Gebaroff If this last paragraph is true (I don't know whether Ms Gebaroff is an attorney with expertise in this area), employers should be scared to death of LinkedIn. Just think: All anybody has to do these days to check out somebody's credentials and qualifications (and frequently age) is see if he/she can access their LinkedIn profile. So, when a youngish candidate gets the job an older candidate wants (companies post these things on their websites), the allegedly aggrieved party can check him/her out in a matter of minutes and call a lawyer...