In Class Action Lawsuit, Facebook Users Flag More Companies for Age Discrimination in Their Job Ads
Sep 27, 2018
Los Angeles, CA (Law Firm Newswire) September 27, 2018 – Other employers including Facebook, Ikea and Enterprise Rent-A-Car have been added to a class action lawsuit in which older workers allege job ads posted on Facebook illegally target younger users.
The Communications Workers of America, a labor union representing media employees, filed the suit in California federal court in December. In its initial filing, the union called out Amazon, T-Mobile and Cox Media Group for carrying out biased recruiting practices.
The suit centers on Facebook’s business model that permits advertisers to narrowly target the social media network’s users based on their interests, age, location and other demographic information.
Facebook denied that the ads discriminate against older workers. Rob Goldman, Facebook’s Vice President of ads, equated the method to posting job ads in certain magazines to attract a specific readership, which the courts have ruled is not a form of age discrimination as long as the company engages in other recruiting efforts.
“What matters is that marketing is broadly based and inclusive, not simply focused on a particular age group. In addition, certain employers want to attract retirees or recruit for jobs with specific age restrictions like the military or airline pilots,” Goldman wrote as a reply to the original December lawsuit.
Complaints of age discrimination submitted to the federal watchdog agency that oversees equal employment have gradually increased over the past decade. Betsy Havens, executive director of Los Angeles employment law firm Strong Advocates, knows the prevalence of the discriminatory behavior.
“Age discrimination may be a less talked about issue these days, but statistics show this illegal practice is affecting more and more workers,” Havens said. “Workers who spent their entire careers amassing knowledge and experience in their fields should not be unjustly punished by being discriminated against because of their age.”
Faced age discrimination in the workplace? Contact Strong Advocates to find out how to right the wrong.
Strong Advocates
6080 Center Drive, Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Phone: (310) 504-1490
