Age Discrimination????

My mother whe works in Texas was terminated from her job all the details around it are very wrong how they fired her but I understand the whole "at-will" employment, but the one things that I have a question about is that when she was fired she was also told that it was "Generational Differences". This to me screams age discrimination. Extra info my mom is 49 years old and I don't know how old her employers are but I do know they can be more than 35. Can somebody tell if I am crazy or if my mom should start looking for a lawyer. She also applied for unemployment and started receiveing it then 3 months later she got a letter from the state that her employer was appealing it. Why would an employer do this? Any help would be great.

AShaff51:

My mother whe works in Texas was terminated from her job all the details around it are very wrong how they fired her but I understand the whole "at-will" employment, but the one things that I have a question about is that when she was fired she was also told that it was "Generational Differences". This to me screams age discrimination. Extra info my mom is 49 years old and I don't know how old her employers are but I do know they can be more than 35

The better question is how many other employees over 40 are still working there?

AShaff51:

She also applied for unemployment and started receiveing it then 3 months later she got a letter from the state that her employer was appealing it. Why would an employer do this?

To try to get out of paying for her UI benefits.

Or because there might be other issues involved in her termination that you aren't aware of.

If she has some proof of age discrimination, she'll need to file a complaint with the EEOC.

She is the only employee over 40 in the office, and there are only 4 people that work in the office.

Then unfortunately there is very little she can do, because under both Texas and Federal law there must be 15 employees before discrimination laws apply.

She is free to speak to a local attorney to see if any local statutes apply.

AShaff51:

when she was fired she was also told that it was "Generational Differences".

I have worked with older employees who don't want to adapt to the times and no matter how much you stress that they must do something a specific way they choose not to. That might be what this company is referring to.

Ok now what if there aren't that many employees but it is a county office that works for the state?

If it a large multi site employer the the total employment may be the critical number and not just the number that work in her "office."  Been a long time since I was in tune with any of this stuff!

But Mom still bears the burden of proving she was singled out of the basis of her age to be discharged.

Why does she feel age was the driving factor.

She feels she was discriminated because she was told that one of the reasons was "Generational Differences" all the other reasons that they gave her were never brought to her attention until she was fired i.e. grammatical errors on reports.

No employer needs to sit down with you and tell you that you can't spell or that your sentences are not gramatically correct. They can terminate you without notice unless you are part of a union or work under a CBA.

Opinion:

"Generational differences" doesn't necessarily "scream age discrimination."  Instead, it very well may suggest that she is not trained, nor has taken the effort, to keep up with adaptions necessary in today's work environments. 

For example, and, only intended as a possible theory, Microsoft didn't even go public until 1986.  Your Mom was twenty-nine, and her college days were probably over; unless she DID learn the various programs as they surfaced.

I received my degree in 1974, when Bates and Jobs were still pretty much fooling around in their parents' garages.  I was trained how to use electric typewriters.  By the time the first WP program and PCs surfaced, I had already learned how to use ATEX.  The problem was that ATEX was utilized only by media.  I didn't even buy a PC until the early '90s.  I never had "formal training."  Anything I have learned is strictly bits and pieces.  Job duty requirements progressed since my first job -- and I had to keep up with them.

If your Mom is not able to complete what would be considered basic assignments in today's workforce, regardless if they are computer oriented or not, that could be what the employer meant by "generational differences."  It would probably come across as a valid reason, albeit a tacky expression.

My employer could also term me for only being able to speak English, German and French -- but not Spanish.  I would hardly have grounds to claim discrimination based on national origin.  My national origin has nothing to do with my inability to speak the language.

Your Mom's best bet would be to have an attorney review her situation.

Caution:

I can fire you for  grammar mistakes  ,  I can fire you for no reason at all.

But if I run around and mouth off about "generational gap"  AND you can prove it--you may have enough leverage to force me into some sort of settlement over "age discrimination."  But I think its going to be a tough one to prove!