My employer used COVID-19 layoffs to get rid of older workers.

What are my rights?

While many businesses may be struggling these days, the COVID-19 pandemic is no excuse for discriminatory terminations. Although age discrimination is illegal under federal, state, and New York City law, some employers may try to take advantage of the pandemic to push out older employees.

The federal Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) is an amendment to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). The OWBPA prohibits age discrimination in several ways, including making it unlawful for covered employers to intentionally target older workers for layoffs or staff reductions. If you are over 40 years old and work at a company with 20 or more employees, the Older Workers Protection Act mandates that your employer give you information about who was selected for layoffs. Your employer has to tell you, in any severance agreement which contains a release of your legal claims, the job titles and the ages of employees who are going to be laid off and the same information for those who are going to be retained. This can be very useful in trying to determine whether your employer has targeted older employees.

Age discrimination is also prohibited under the ADEA, the New York State and City Human Rights Laws, and similar laws in other states. If you feel you have been subjected to a discriminatory termination or work environment, contact us to speak with an experienced employment attorney about your rights.