Is it my race or my age, and if so could I prove it?
Seattle, WA
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Posted about 1 year ago in Discrimination
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I am a white woman in my 50s working as an administrative assistant for a large nonprofit, where several of the senior managers and a large number of the staff are black. I am also one of only 3 people over 40 who did not enter the organization as a middle or upper manager. All 3 of us boomer age support workers are white and we are all classified as hourly non-exempt, while there are women running around half our age who are constantly getting promoted. The agency is very youth-oriented and very "rainbow", and I feel out of place as a middle aged white person. The young woman who sits behind me is 30, blonde and gorgeous and has recently been promoted to a senior management position even though she has only been there two months longer than I have and I have basically the same or better credentials. Until she quit six months ago, the middle manager in my own department (I'll call her Donna), a 50-ish black woman, used to regularly exclude me from meetings, withhold juicy projects from me, talk trash about me to her direct reports behind my back, and demean me in public. We shared the same boss, a black male, who let her basically run things and never did anything to stop her inappropriate behavior. Once two years ago he approached me about taking a new position that would amount to a promotion, if he could get it funded. I said I would be very interested. Three months later during the funding effort, Donna succeeded in taking the job away from me and giving it to her 26-year old protege. Since that time I have unsuccessfully applied for two other positions within the company for which I had more than the minimum qualifications. In both cases, my application was denied in favor of people in their twenties and early thirties.
My boss's boss (let's call him Ron) is an older white male, and both my boss and Donna used to spend the first half of our weekly staff meeting trashing Ron behind his back, both for his micromanaging and for being a clueless white dude. On one occasion with my own boss's support, I met with Ron to call him on some negative behavior of his own. My boss proudly reported this to Donna and the rest of the staff. Donna's reaction (I'm paraphrasing) was to say she would never get an apology from Ron, but of course I can get him to apologize- just look at what color we both are. I objected, but she is the kind of person who will never let anyone else have the last word. I am dying to get out, but our health benefits and fringes are superb, and as a single person I can't afford to leave until I find something that will sustain me well. I have been applying for all kinds of things but haven't landed anything yet. Meanwhile, if I find legal counsel who feels I have experienced actionable discrimination of one kind or another, I would consider a suit against the agency. Thoughts please? - Is this your question? Add additional information Answers (2)John M. Kaman
This attorney is licensed in California.
Posted about 1 year ago.
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Like many people unhappy with their jobs you have many complaints to which there is no legal solution. An age discrimination suit or complaint might be the best way to go although in general these don't succeed that often unless you were fired or squeezed out of your job because of your age or terminated to cut off already earned benefits. Many companies have unspoken policies regarding preferences to younger workers and it is ofte difficult to prove these are purely discriminatory.
Frankly if you are thinking discrimination based on race you can forget it, as whites are not generally treated as a protected class. But you may have something based on discrimination based on sex. You'll need to see a lawyer to know for sure. Kathleen Dillon Hunt
This attorney is licensed in Washington and 2 other states.
Posted about 1 year ago.
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I hate to disagree with another lawyer, but as one who practices employment law exclusively, I'm afraid I must. You most certainly ARE a member of a protected class -- indeed, you are protected because of your race, your gender and your age. You should speak to an employment lawyer before you do anything, because as a current employee you should consider carefully the risks/benefits of your next step. There is a theory in employment law called "stray remarks," which the employer will argue is all you experienced. It is rare for an employer to provide you with a smoking gun ("I didn't promote you because you are old-white-female (pick one or all)...), so courts routinely rely on circumstantial evidence to decide discrimination cases. Be careful, and find an employment lawyer. Good luck...
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