Legal Question in Discrimination Law in California

RIF Age and Sex Discrimination

A company wide 10% reduction in force was undertaken by my employer. My department is made up of 8 people, 4 males and 4 females. Three people were terminated - all women over the age of 40. The only women remaining on the team is 24 years old. Is this likely an age and gender bias?


Asked on 9/01/99, 3:13 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Barbara C. Johnson Law Office of Barbara C. Johnson

Re: Discrimination by Reduction in Force

Could very well be. I hesitate to say "likely" because these cases are fact-intensive--I'd have to know more.

BUT . . . when a reduction in force takes place

and it falls MORE HARSHLY on a PROTECTED

class -- such as those of a particular gender or

those over 40 -- the RIF argument might very

well LIKELY be a pretext for

discrimination.

To give you a constructive answer, we would have

to know, at the very least, the job classifications of the 8 people, the job descriptions,

the credentials of the 8 individuals, the evaluations of the individuals (more than likely subjective rather than objective), and

the financials of the company.

Barbara C. Johnson

Attorney at Law, Andover, Massachusetts

False Allegations: http://falseallegations.com

Forever Fascinating: http://falseallegations.com/scstore/indexstr.htm

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Answered on 9/02/99, 2:59 pm


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