In Colorado as in most other states, workers who are fired, demoted or otherwise mistreated due to their race, gender, age or certain other characteristics have legal protections. State law prohibits employers and supervisors from committing several forms of discrimination against their employees. Laws like these empower members of minority groups to keep the workplace a place of equal opportunity for everyone.
A former maintenance worker for a school district in another state has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against his former employer. The man, 66, says he was told by his supervisor that he was “too old” to continue his job and that he was advised to apply for unemployment benefits instead.
The plaintiff worked at school throughout the district for about two years before suffering an on-the-job shoulder injury. An article about the workplace discrimination case mentions that he worked full-time and also performed overtime prior to the injury. The injury forced the man to take several months off of work to undergo surgery and recover. His supervisor promised the plaintiff that his job would be waiting for him once his shoulder was better.
But when he returned to work in August 2012, the supervisor told him that he could not have his job back because of his age, despite assurances from his doctor that the man could return to work full-time with no physical restrictions. Though the supervisor was careful to say that he was not firing the maintenance worker, he told him that instead of fighting for his job he should “collect unemployment” instead.
Besides the charge of age discrimination, the plaintiff is also accusing the school district of failing to accommodate his temporary disability by firing him after medical leave.
Source: NJ.com, “Perth Amboy maintenance worker, 66, claims age discrimination in lawsuit against school district,” Anthony G. Attrino, March 7, 2013