Life Begins at 40, but so does Age Discrimination at Work

The average age of the American worker has been rising as the population has increased and medical care has improved. People are living longer and have more vitality at a later age now than they have ever had before. You would think that would open up more employment opportunities. Companies want older folks with years of experience, right? In some cases, that’s true. In far too many others, the situation is the opposite. Men and women are being phased out in the later years to save on salaries and pension expenses. It’s not only wrong; it’s illegal. If it’s happening to you, it’s time to call a Dallas Employment Discrimination Attorney.

They say life begins at forty. The troubled days of youth are behind us, the kids are nearly grown and gone, and new possibilities abound for us. The accumulated knowledge of half a lifetime combined with the sensible temperance of middle age make all things possible, unless you’re discriminated against and lose your job. Have you recently been laid off due to “cost-cutting” measures taken by your employer? Were any of the younger, less experienced, and lower-paid employees laid off along with you? Most of the time the pattern is clear, but those in your position feel they can’t do anything about it. That is simply not true. You’re protected and you have options.

In 1967, a law called the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was passed to protect workers forty years old and older from age discrimination. It is not okay for an employer to lay off his older workers and keep the young ones because he can pay them less. That is a violation of your rights and you can sue for it. Call the office of Dallas employment discrimination attorney Dan Atkerson and schedule a consultation. We’ll tell you if you have a valid case or not and then get you what is rightfully yours.

According to ADEA and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is illegal for any decision made on “term, condition, privilege of employment, hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job assignments, or training” to be based on age. It’s spelled out in black and white and employers are required to know it, but still age discrimination rears its ugly head in America’s workplaces. Excuses and justifications for it are more common than actions against it. Most victims of it, especially in the 40-50 year old age group, either take the lay-off and collect or look for another job.

The recent recession caused thousands of people to lose their jobs here in the metro-Dallas area. If you were one of them, examine the situation around your release. If you feel that you were the victim of an adverse action that may have been age discrimination, call Dan Atkerson at (214) 383-3606 or danatkerson@atkersonlaw.com, and he will explain what you can do to correct the situation.

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categories Age Discrimination | law_attorney August 24, 2011 | comments Comments (0)

Don’t let them discourage you from hiring a Dallas Discrimination Lawyer

Do you know who “they” are? They are your co-workers, the managers, the human resources personnel, the nay-sayers, the proponents of preserving the status quo and allowing things to go on as they always have. “They” are the men and women who impede progress, intentionally or unintentionally, and allow the unacceptable to be accepted. They are those who tell you to be silent and let it slide, maybe even offering to buy your silence to avoid a scandal. Is that happening to you? Are you letting “them” discourage you from hiring a Dallas discrimination lawyer?

One of the first actions of the guilty when they get caught is to try to cover up the behavior by coercing or bribing the witnesses and victims. In cases of employment discrimination, it may not be the actual offenders who make these offers. A company that hires a manager who then discriminates against an employee is guilty because they are the responsible party, but it’s the manager who committed the offense. You can sue that person directly in some cases, and you can sue the company. The company may offer to settle outside of court to keep you silent. They might even tell you that you don’t need a lawyer.

Do not settle until you talk to Dallas employment discrimination attorney Dan Atkerson. If you do, you may be settling for far less than what you will receive if you go to court. You might also end up signing an agreement that will leave you with no right of appeal later on.  In most cases, you’re letting someone off the hook when you settle and allowing the behavior to continue. If it’s a case of the company wanting to avoid bad press, demand that they terminate the manager who is doing the discriminating. Even if you choose to move on to other employment after the incident, you’ll still want to make sure no one else has to go through what you did.

There are different types of discrimination, and none of them are okay. Race and color discrimination are the two that come to mind first. If you are being held back because of the color of your skin or your national origin, you can contact a Dallas employment discrimination lawyer like Dan Atkerson and seek legal recourse. The practices of discriminatory promoting or hiring are both illegal, and you could be entitled to a financial settlement if you have been the victim of one of them. Many folks who are still struggling to find jobs don’t know that and could be breathing easier right now instead of struggling to survive, well compensated for being the victims of an illegal act.

In this country, all men and women are equal under the law. Unfortunately, some individuals still try to exclude others because they are different. It is not morally right and it’s not legal for this behavior to go on, but it does. Morality is an individual choice, taught to us as children by religious institutions and parents. Legal lessons are taught by the courts when they levy heavy fines and even jail time to those who break the law. Contact Dan Atkerson at (214) 383-3606 or danatkerson@atkersonlaw.com and he’ll explain how we can get you justice for the discrimination you have suffered through.

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categories Dallas Employment Discrimination Lawyer, Dallas discrimination attorney, Dallas employment lawyer | law_attorney August 17, 2011 | comments Comments (0)

Are you a victim of Sexual Harassment?

Where do you draw the line between friendly banter and sexual misconduct? The determining factor for you, as the object of that behavior, is whether or not you feel comfortable with it. If you feel threatened in any way or have asked repeatedly for the behavior to stop and it hasn’t, you may have a case for sexual discrimination. For that, you need a Dallas discrimination attorney to help you, namely Dan Atkerson. He’ll stop the harassment and make sure you’re compensated for your distress.

A co-worker asking you out on a date is not ethical, but it’s also not normally viewed as a case of sexual harassment. In fact, many people meet their future life partners on the job. Those are the happy ending tales. The not-so-happy ending stories are the ones where the first refusal is not taken graciously and leads to other attempts, even insults and outright slander against the target party. Unfortunately, there are a lot of truly sick people out there who have no relationship skills and even less respect for the opposite sex. They are some of the worst sexual predators there are, because in so many cases no one does anything about it. They just wait for the behavior to stop.

Sexual harassment towards one individual does eventually cease when the perpetrator moves on to another target. That might offer a sense of relief to the original victim, but the scars from the experience will still be there, and someone else will now be subjected to the same type of sexual advancements. The party doing the harassing won’t stop, but may become more aggressive after getting away with it the first time. This is how simple situations escalate into serious problems. We’ve seen cases that started out as a dating proposal turn into physical and mental abuse that could have been avoided.

The laws on sexual harassment are very clear. Unwanted advances or sly side comments count. You do not have to put up with them, whether you’re a woman or a man. In many ways, sexual harassment is also discrimination, because you’re singled out by your sex as the object of someone’s attention. It’s not okay, it’s not cute, and it’s certainly not something you should just let go. In his experience as a Dallas discrimination attorney, Dan Atkerson has seen judgments and settlements of six figures awarded to victims of sexual harassment. The next recipient of one of those awards could be you.

Call our office today and tell us your story. There’s no reason to go another day feeling the way that you feel. Not only are you allowing an illegal activity to take place, but you’re settling for less in your own life. Why should you feel demeaned or dissatisfied with your job because someone else has picked you as their target? There’s no reason for it, and Dan Atkerson can stop it.  Contact Mr. Atkerson at (214) 383-3606 or danatkerson@atkersonlaw.com, and he will tell you how.

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categories Dallas discrimination attorney | law_attorney August 10, 2011 | comments Comments (0)

Are they using the color of your skin or your accent to hold you back?

Have you noticed that everyone in your department at work in the same color or nationality as you? Do your supervisors and managers share the same skin tone? In the years that you have been with the company, have you ever been offered a promotion to become one of those supervisors or managers? Has anyone in your department? These are disturbing questions, and the answers may not be something you want to look at, but there’s a good chance you are being discriminated against based on your race, color and/or national origin, and so are your fellow workers. Worse yet, if you don’t do anything about it, it will continue.

Discriminatory hiring and promotion practices are still common in the United States. It’s not supposed to be like that, but unfortunately it is. There are a number of companies here in the Dallas area where you can literally see a caste system in place, yet no one does anything about it. It’s almost as if those who are workers are destined to be there and those who are managers are the chosen ones. This sort of medieval thinking is even more common in cases where large groups of workers originate in another country and speak a different language. They’re American citizens, but they’re not treated as such.

The laws in this country forbid that type of discrimination and Dallas employment discrimination lawyer Dan Atkerson can help you do something about it. Don’t feel that, because things have always been that way, they have to stay that way. Civil rights activists fought and died so you could have the same rights every other man and woman has, so don’t be afraid to step up and claim what is yours. If you feel that you are being held back because of the color of your skin or your accent, contact our office today and come in for a consultation. You may just have a case for legal action.

What kind of result can you expect if you take your case to court? A lot of cases like yours never make it that far because the plaintiffs feel like they can’t win. No one wants to be labeled as a trouble-maker and possibly lose their job, but settling for less every day is far worse than either of those. Fighting for what is rightfully yours could not only net you a nice financial settlement, it could improve conditions for you and your fellow workers. There is nothing to fear. If they terminate your employment because you’re suing them, that is illegal retaliation, and it just adds to our case and increases the amount we ask for.

This country has come a long way in the past half century and there’s no question that there are more opportunities available now than there were before, yet some individuals and even entire companies still practice discrimination on a daily basis. If you feel its happening in your workplace, talk to someone there about it. If your pleas fall on deaf ears, contact Dan Atkerson at (214) 383-3606 or danatkerson@atkersonlaw.com.  He’ll make sure they listen.

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categories Dallas Employment Discrimination Lawyer, Dallas discrimination attorney, Dallas employment lawyer | law_attorney August 3, 2011 | comments Comments (0)

Location

1025 Arches Park DrIVE | Allen, TEXAS (TX) | 75013 | 1-214-383-3606 | e-mail us

From offices in Allen, Texas, attorney Dan A. Atkerson represents clients in the communities of Addison, Allen, Arlington, Carrollton, Coppell, Flower Mound, Fort Worth, Frisco, Garland, Irving, McKinney, Plano, Richardson, and the Colony, and throughout the DFW Metroplex. He also represents residents of Collin County, Dallas County, Denton County, and Tarrant County, Texas.


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