Overqualified? Or Too Old? Ex-GC’s Age Discrimination Case Takes Aim at Biased Recruiting Practices
The Chicago Tribune tells the story of a former general counsel who had been unemployed and job hunting for three years when he came across a position that seemed promising, but for this part of the ad: “3 to 7 years (no more than 7 years) of relevant legal experience,” it said.
The story of Dale Kleber, who was 58 at the time, illustrates a bigger story of the critical question about whether job applicants can pursue lawsuits at all in such cases, explains reporter Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz.
“The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination against people over 40, but there is dispute about whether Congress intended for the law to protect external job applicants, not just current or former employees, against policies that appear to be neutral but have a disproportionate adverse effect on older people,” she writes.
Kleber’s experience includes a stint as general counsel at Dean Foods and, most recently, as CEO of a dairy products trade group.
Read the Chicago Tribune article.
