What is the ADEA?

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older from employment discrimination based on age. The ADEA’s protections apply to both employees and job applicants. Under the ADEA, it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of his/her age with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job assignments, and training. The ADEA permits employers to favor older workers based on age even when doing so adversely affects a younger worker who is 40 or older.

Amendments to the ADEA include those introduced by the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

Employers also cannot retaliate against employees who participate in any investigation of a discrimination complaint. Harassment law says the employer must stop any and all harassment based on protected statuses. Most employers have a Harassment Policy. Use the complaint procedure in the Harassment Policy to report your concern. If your employer does not have a Harassment Policy, report your concern to the people responsible for Human Resources in your company.

If you are not satisfied with your employer’s response you can contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Arizona Civil Rights Division to file a charge of discrimination.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
3300 West Central Avenue, Suite 690
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Telephone:(602) 640-5000 or 1-(800) 669-4000 or TTY 1-(800) 669-6820

Arizona Attorney General Civil Rights Division
1275 W. Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2926
Telephone: (602) 542-5025 or

Arizona Civil Rights Division
400 West Congress, Suite 315
Tucson, AZ 85701-1720
Telephone: (520) 628-6504

If you feel an employer has used your protected status against you when making an employment decision, talk to your employer about how you feel. Check your employer’s anti-discrimination policy to find out who you should talk to.

If you are not satisfied with your employer’s response or don’t want to talk with your employer about how you feel, you can contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Arizona Civil Rights Division. You must file a discrimination claim with either agency within 300 calendar days of the last incident of discrimination.

This website has been prepared for general information purposes only. The information on this website is not legal advice. Legal advice is dependent upon the specific circumstances of each situation. Also, the law may vary from county-to-county, so that some information in this website may not be correct for your situation. Finally, the information contained on this website is not guaranteed to be up to date. Therefore, the information contained in this website cannot replace the advice of competent legal counsel licensed in your jurisdiction.

ADEA Law of Arizona

ADEA Law of Arizona

What is the ADEA?