New legislation could help us finally address a national epidemic: Age discrimination at work
Too many Americans who face age discrimination never have the opportunity to sue, say Lift Our Voices cofounders Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky.
[Photo: Cavan Images/Getty Images]
Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky | Fast Company
As the pioneering feminist Betty Friedan once said, “Aging is not lost youth, but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” Yet across our country, Americans age 40 and older are routinely discriminated against in their workplaces based on their age. In recent years, horrific stories of age discrimination have exposed a national epidemic that seeks to drive experienced older workers from both their jobs and their chosen careers.
Take X, the company formerly known as Twitter, where former employees are suing Elon Musk for disproportionately laying off workers who are over 50. Or Eli Lilly, which for years has been the subject of age discrimination claims and which recently entered into a $2.4 million settlement for bias against its older workers. Or Mattel, which is facing a lawsuit from a longtime worker who claims he was fired because of his age. Or Frito Lay, which is facing a lawsuit for age discrimination.
We know about these cases because they have been filed in open court. But too many Americans who face age discrimination never have the opportunity to sue; instead, they are shunted off into the secret chamber of forced arbitration, where their claims are heard in private, often by an arbitrator selected and paid for by the company accused of the wrongdoing.
Gretchen Carlson is a journalist, author and advocate whose actions against workplace harassment at Fox News helped pave the way for the global #MeToo movement.
Julie Roginsky is a political and public relations consultant who sued Fox News for sexual harassment and retaliation. Since leaving Fox News, Carlson and Roginsky co-founded the nonprofit Lift Our Voices.
BY GRETCHEN CARLSON AND JULIE ROGINSKY, May 8th, 2023