65-year-old wasn’t hired for being ‘too old’ in New Jersey, feds say. Now company sued
Job candidates deemed older than the “ideal age range” for certain positions at an electrical company’s branch in New Jersey weren’t hired, according to federal employment officials.
When the resume of a 65-year-old job candidate was forwarded by a recruiting company to Hatzel & Buehler, Inc., it refused to hire him as an estimator or project manager in September 2021, a complaint filed in federal court on June 6 says.
The recruiting company was told the candidate was “too old to be hired” — and younger candidates should be sought out instead, according to the complaint, which says the preferred age range was between 30 and 45 years old.
Now, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Hatzel & Buehler, which has branches in eight states and in Washington, D.C., and accusing it of age discrimination and violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the agency announced in a June 6 news release.
The lawsuit aims to provide relief to the 65-year-old candidate and other applicants refused for the position, the complaint says.
McClatchy News contacted the company’s New Jersey vice president and branch manager for comment on June 7 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
Since November 2020, the company has refused to hire job candidates over 40 for the estimator and project manager positions at its New Jersey branch, according to the complaint.
Meanwhile, the vice president has since hired at least four people younger than 40 for the positions, the complaint says.
“American workers are staying in the workforce longer than ever before,” EEOC Philadelphia District Office Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence said in a statement. “It is imperative that the EEOC protect the rights of older workers to be free from age discrimination at every step of the employment process.”
More on the case
After the candidate learned he was considered too old to work for Hatzel & Buehler, he filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, according to the complaint.
The company is accused of refusing to hire other applicants based on their age, including a man who applied to work as an estimator in August 2021, the complaint says. He was 58 at the time with more than 12 years of experience in electrical estimating, according to the complaint.
The company’s New Jersey vice president is accused of making a note in his resume, writing “FYI. Seems to have started working around 1981. Would put him around 60 years old is my guess,” the complaint shows.
During the applicant’s interview, he was asked when he planned to retire, according to the complaint.
He said he planned to work eight more years until retirement — and was never contacted by the company again, the complaint says.
The vice president disputed the man wasn’t hired due his age and told the EEOC his experience working for the Army Corps of Engineers wasn’t relevant to the company’s work, according to the complaint.
However, the man was previously offered a job at the company’s New Jersey branch sometime before the vice president stepped into his position in November 2020, the complaint says.
The lawsuit makes several requests, including asking the court to grant an injunction to prevent the company from discriminating against job applications based on age and to provide the 65-year-old candidate and other applicants back pay in addition to relief.
Hatzel & Buehler has additional branches in Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
78-year-old fired by manager who wanted to go in a ‘younger direction,’ lawsuit says
US Space & Rocket Center accused of firing woman because of her age. Now she’s suing
Worker was told hearing loss wouldn’t be issue. Then she was fired over it, feds say
