Age Discrimination in Sales Jobs in California

It is not a secret that many companies strongly prefer that their sales stuff consist of physically attractive individuals - be it very young and attractive women, or men with presence and confidence who are, again, young.   It has been recognized for many generations in business that beauty sells, and younger, more attractive people sell more and better. However, this kind of attitude toward hiring and selection of sales people in any industry perpetuates discriminatory employment practices against older workers, thereby turning them into victims of something that is completely out of their control, and something that awaits each and every one of us - being older.

Age discrimination at workplace is prohibited by law in California. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits not hiring, termination or otherwise discriminating against potential or existing employees based on age. Of course, the vast majority of employers this day and age know better than to tell an employee outright that they terminate him because of age and they find far more subtle ways of getting rid of older workers, most common of which are fake lay-offs as a disguise for getting rid of older workers and fabricated performance issues. 


There are creative ways to prove age bias and discrimination by the employer against an older employee through the so-called "circumstantial" evidence. This typically includes encouraging an employee to retire early, giving an employee age-based nicknames such as "dad" or "father time" or "oldie" or "grandpa," making such comments as "we need fresh blood in here" or "we need someone faster," or systematically replacing older workers with the younger once due to fabricated performance issues. This kind of evidence may be critical in trial or in any attempt to settle your age discrimination claim. Therefore, it's very important that you preserve as much of the documentation as possible that would reflect one or more of the above kinds of facts in order to prove your age discrimination and/or wrongful termination case. 

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