Avoid Age Discrimination Lawsuits: Lessons Learned From Claims

Age discrimination remains a common allegation in employment claims. United Educators (UE) reviewed more than 400 age discrimination claims that higher education and K-12 institutions received from 2016 through 2020. Understanding trends can help institutions identify ways to prevent age discrimination — or allegations of it — from happening on campus.

• Document employee performance regularly and record performance deficiencies and improvement opportunities.
• Treat employees consistently when changing benefits, office space, and terms of employment.
• Respond to discrimination allegations; don’t let discriminatory behavior persist.
• Use your policies and engage in levels of review to ensure employee dismissal decisions receive sufficient consideration.