Professor Elam

Monday April 17, 2017

Two men aged 47 and 53, are suing PwC over alleged improper hiring practices. PwC bills itsel as the place to work for millenials.

The two men who appear qualified claim they were turned down because of their age.

At issue is the intent of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

I note the case has been filed in a federal  San Francisco Court.

Does the act seek merely to protect those already employed or job seekers as well. Here is an excerpt from the article.

Their legal arguments have gotten support from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a sympathetic hearing from some judges, including from the district-court bench presiding over the PwC case.

"The history of the ADEA's enactment reveals that Congress was concerned not just with age discrimination within the workplace, but also with the barriers to older workers finding employment in the first place," wrote Judge Jon Tigar of San Francisco in February when he declined to dismiss the case.

The ADEA prohibits an employer from depriving an individual of employment opportunities "or otherwise adversely affect[ing] his status as an employee" because of the person's age.

It is the meaning of "status as an employee" that is hotly contested. Lawyers for PwC say the words clearly restrict the protections to the currently employed, not job seekers. "We are asking the court to apply the law as written," said PwC attorney Emily Nicklin of Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago.