Age discrimination in Startups – Another close call?

Discrimination has many faces - and despite increasing awareness in society and legislative measures, unfortunately it is still often the order of the day.

Such discrimination can be particularly severe in the workplace.

The aim of the?General Equal Treatment Act (AGG)?is therefore the elimination or prevention of discrimination on racist grounds or because of ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual identity.

Discrimination based on age is unfortunately still widespread today, especially in and around professional environments.

This is partly due to a lack of awareness of the severity of this form of discrimination, but also a result of the fact that age has traditionally often been, and in some cases still is, a starting point for legal, contractual and collective bargaining agreements.

The ban on discrimination based on age is therefore a comparatively newer legal development and the pitfalls that employers can stumble upon already start prior to the?interview stage.

In fact: Careful consideration is already required when it comes to job advertisements.

But what about startups?

Attention! Such an arbitrary setting of an age limit regularly violates the AGG. Successful lawsuits from rejected applicants are to be expected!

At least that is how the?LAG Berlin, which recently dealt with the below case, seems to view the matter:

The 48-year-old applicant had applied to a Berlin startup for the position of “(Junior) Key Account Manager (f/m/d)”. The job advertisement read, among other things: “We offer (...) a young team with flat hierarchies that gives you real creative freedom (...)”

The startup filled the position with a different applicant, whereupon the rejected applicant filed a lawsuit with the Berlin Labor Court (AG) under Section 15 (2) (1) AGG and sued the startup demanding compensation for the amount of at least 5,000 euros.

The claimant submitted that he had been disadvantaged because of his age and that the job advertisement provided sufficient evidence for this.

The AG dismissed the lawsuit, and the appeal to the LAG Berlin was unsuccessful as well.

However:

Good to know:

The ban on age discrimination in German labor law has its legal basis in §§ 7 and 11 AGG.

However, this national legal basis is based on EU law, in particular on the EU Equal Treatment Directive (CD 2000/78/EG) and on the?EU Charter of Fundamental Rights?(Art. 21 EUGRCh).

Conclusion:

It is not only from a legal point of view that employers and recruiters are treading on thin ice with allusions to the age of the existing workforce and / or?applicants. Notions that certain skills & knowledge are linked to young (or advanced) age can truly?be considered outdated in 2022.

Diversity in the workplace on the other hand, is a real win-win for employees and employers!

Are you particularly interested in the topic of inclusion? So are we, that is why we also recommend?this?blog article!