Newswire21.org
The federal Civil Rights Commission will investigate whether the nation's economic crisis has led to abuses of age discrimination laws.
The commission has summoned seven experts for a public briefing on whether corporate efforts to cut costs led to a disproportionate impact on workers over 40.
Thousands of US companies laid off hundreds of thousands of workers, cut salaries and promoted early retirement plans as ways to reduce their workforce expenses after the recession began in the fall of 2007. Since then, long-term unemployment has soared to levels never seen since the government began keeping statistics in the 1940s, creating a special hardship for older workers.
"In a nation where 'baby boomers' born in the late 1940s and early 1950s are now at or near retirement age, older workers may experience disproportionately greater effects of company downsizing, whether real or merely perceived," the commission said in a statement. "In addition, many retired senior citizens living on pensions or investments may face marked reductions in the income of their assets and seek reentry into the work force."
Witnesses are expected to testify on "whether older workers are less employed than in earlier years, the duration of unemployment, and whether age discrimination lawsuits have increased during the economic downturn."
Varied Viewpoints
The commission said the speakers will also address the ability of the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission to address the law and the impact of recent
Supreme Court decisions on the ability of workers to sue employers over alleged
abuse.
Those planning to testify include Laurie McCann, senior attorney for the AARP Foundation; Elizabeth Milito, a counsel to the National Federation of Independent Businesses; Dianna Johnston, counsel to the EEOC; and Cathy Ventrell-Monsees, president of Workplace Fairness.
