Age Discrimination in Law: Legislation, Case Law, and Elderly Group

This report examines age discrimination, focusing on the elderly as a social group. It delves into the various forms of age discrimination, including direct, indirect, harassment, and victimization. The report identifies and analyzes relevant legislation, particularly the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967, which protects individuals aged 40 and above from age-based discrimination in employment. Furthermore, the report explores case law, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, highlighting how legal frameworks address the rights of older people. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings, emphasizing the importance of understanding and combating age discrimination across various societal contexts. This detailed analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of the legal landscape surrounding age discrimination and its impact on the elderly.

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Health and Social Care
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The discrimination in the old age usually continues to become tolerated by people in the
whole world. The stereotypes and the ageist attitudes are quite common in almost every level
such as in the workplace, in the family and in the society as a whole. The age discrimination and
the ageism can manifest themselves in a different way in different economic, social and the
cultural contexts which often remain accepted and unrecognized. The discrimination in the old
age is based rarely on the old age alone. It is founded more often on multiple factors that are
complicated by the cumulative impact of discrimination spread for a lifetime (Bratt et al. 2018).
With the ageing of the populations, there is an increase in the number of aged people which in
turn increases the chances of the rights denial. It is significant to have the discrimination
understood in a better way and prohibited universally. There are certain laws against these types
of discrimination such as the Young Black men who are one social group facing the
discrimination of ‘stop and search’. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is one
legislation that is for the protection of the rights of this social group. In this paper, the selected
social group that is the elderly group and the discrimination they face will be discussed. It will
further discuss the legislation related to this discrimination and the case law related with it. In the
concluding section, the points will be summarized regarding the social group.
Background
The Age discrimination
The age discrimination happens when a person is differently treated with a
disproportionate and unreasonable impact due to their age. The discrimination of the age can
become direct or indirect. Taken for example, the denial of the access of the older people to the

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healthcare because of their old age is direct discrimination. The ignorance in the collection of the
HIV infection data in the men and women over the age of 49 is the indirect discrimination. This
failure in the collection of the data can provide an outcome of the exclusion of the older people
from the AIDS prevention programs. Notably, the ageism is one stereotyping along with the
prejudice against the older people which can lead to the discrimination of age (Neumark et al.
2019). The ageism at one end appears to be harmless but on the other end, it leads to the critical
age discrimination. The example of the ageism can be the patronization of the older people in
films and the in the advertisements. The research of the University of Yale has shown that there
is a negative impact of the older people stereotyping on the societal perspective towards the older
people. In the United States, there is proof of harmful impact of the older people stereotyping on
the memories of the older people, their work and life balance and psyche too. The older women
on the other hand are seen to be accused of being witches and practicing witchcraft due to the
gender and age stereotypes. As a consequence, they are forced to be out of their homes and
murdered too.
The different types of discrimination
There are usually four types of discrimination such as the direct, the indirect, the
harassment and the victimization. The direct discrimination happens when a person treats an
aged person worse than the other person in a similar situation due to the old age. For example,
when the employer refuses in allowing a training course due to the fact that the person is thought
to be ‘too old’ but at the same time allows the other employees to conduct the training (Neumark,
Burn and Button 2016). Notably, the direct discrimination is only permitted when employer can
show there to be a good reason of having the discrimination. Taken for example, when a person
is 17 years old and applies for a job on the construction site. Also, the construction company

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further refuses the employment of the people under 18 due to the scopes of accidents that shows
it to be dangerous for them. This treatment of the company is justified (Avidor et al. 2017).
However, in other cases when the elder people are bereft of certain facilities because they are
aged, it not acceptable. The indirect discrimination happens when a specific organization has a
specific policy or the ways of working which applies to people but keeps a particular group of
people under disadvantage. The harassment is another form of age discrimination that happens
when a person makes another person feel offended, humiliated or degraded. Taken for example,
when an elderly person is made to stand in a queue for getting some work done, and the person is
commented on continuously is a form of harassment. It should be noted that harassment can
never be justified and one should always put a claim on the harasser (de Paula Couto and
Rothermund 2019). The victimization is another form of the age discrimination and it happens
when a person is badly treated due to the fact that he/she has filed a complaint based on the
Equality Act. It can further occur when a person is supporting another person complaining of the
age discrimination. .
Discussion
One relevant legislation- In this regard, it can be said that the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 prevents the age discrimination against all people who are of
the age of 40 or above. Notably, it does not protect the workers who are under the age of 40
because there are some other laws protecting the younger people (Social.un.org 2020).
According to this act, it will be extremely unlawful for an employer to refuse in hiring or
discharging a person and practice discrimination of any type including the compensation, the
privileges of the employment, the terms and the conditions based on the age of the person. An
employer cannot segregate , limit and classify all of his employees in a way which would deprive

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any type of individuals of the scopes, status, respect will also be unlawful. This act also renders
any attempt of reducing the wage rates of an employee for complying with the organizational
systems to be unlawful. It will further be unlawful for a labor organization to expel people from
its membership any individual due to his/her age (Www1.eeoc.gov 2020).
The circumstances when the being treated differently is lawful for the elder people
A difference in the treatment can become lawful in case the person belongs to a specific
age group which essential. This is further referred to as the occupational requirements. It can also
be lawful when an organization is on the verge of taking some positive actions for the
encouragement and the development of people in a specific age segment that is disadvantaged
and under-represented in an activity. It further happens when the employer has fixed a
compulsory retirement age which can justify clearly in respect of the role that is further known as
the objective justification. A service provider is on the verge of making the age-related
concessions along with the benefits. Most importantly, the different situations fall under one of
the exceptions to the Equality Act which allows the companies to provide a different type of
treatment in the services or employment founded on the age of the person.
One case law- The case law and courts play a significant role in the jurisdiction
development in the entire field of the elder law and ageism. The European Convention on the
Human Rights does not address the older people rights explicitly. This is an interesting point
because the older people form a unique social group referred to as “ Invinsible” in the human
rights instruments of Europe. The older people are to find and enjoy the human rights which is
not surprising but not that much studied in the European Court of the Human Rights.
Considerably, the largest numbers of the cases that are brought to the court by the older people

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have activated the article no. 6. According to this case law, the long procedure of the civil
proceedings should be considerate and respectful of the age of the applicant (Equalrightstrust.org
2020).
Conclusion
On a concluding note, it can be said that discrimination in the old age is handled
inconsistently in the non-discrimination, the national equality and the national constitutes. There
are some constitutes which prohibit the discrimination explicitly on the basis of age. There are
some non-discrimination provisions whereas the other people address the old age from the
perspective of welfare. The age discrimination can be seen in many fields such as in the
workplace, in the society, among the family members and others. There are few types of age
discrimination such as the direct, the indirect, the harassment, the victimization and others. One
relevant legislation in this regard is the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967
which prevents the age discrimination against all people who are of the age of 40 or above. On
case law on age discrimination is the European Convention on the Human Rights where in the
article number 6, the age of a person has to be respected and considered.

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References
Avidor, S., Ayalon, L., Palgi, Y. and Bodner, E., 2017. Longitudinal associations between
perceived age discrimination and subjective well-being: Variations by age and subjective life
expectancy. Aging & Mental Health, 21(7), pp.761-765.
Bratt, C., Abrams, D., Swift, H.J., Vauclair, C.M. and Marques, S., 2018. Perceived age
discrimination across age in Europe: From an ageing society to a society for all
ages. Developmental psychology, 54(1), p.167.
de Paula Couto, M.C. and Rothermund, K., 2019. Ageism and Age Discrimination at the
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