Oklahoma (OK) Age Discrimination Law in the Workplace

August 21st, 2006 Posted by Ashley

If you work in Oklahoma, you are covered by not only the federal laws against discrimination, but also by the human rights laws of the state, under the supervision of the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission. The commission is interested in “removing friction” in addition to eliminating discrimination and promoting unity through Oklahoma’s Anti-Discrimination Act.

As a special-interest division, the state maintains a Merit Protection Commission to deal with state employment disputes. If you work for the State of Oklahoma and have a concern specifically about the merit system and promotion as a state worker, this agency may be involved. The Human Rights Commission tries to work through conference and conciliation to resolve discrimination disputes, as does the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Federal law protects workers with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits employers from discriminating because of age, if you are 40 or over. I found that some of the specific areas in which a worker might experience negative affect are pension and retirement plans, retirement incentives and forced termination. As one legal researcher found, Oklahoma law follows federal discrimination law as much as possible.

Generally, the law prohibits an employer from making a decision to hire, replace, or provide benefits based on age of the worker. In Oklahoma, you must file your complaint within 180 days of the incident. After that, the commission may dismiss the claim within 60 days if the ruling is that facts are insufficient to proceed. Therefore, if you want to pursue “civil action” in court, you can do this for up to two years.

It’s interesting to note that one discrimination case in Oklahoma resulted in the court opinion that pursuing a remedy at the state level is still one avenue to choose, even with the ADEA protections. In yet another case, the company not only had to pay $75,000 restitution, but also was required to provide training and education to employees on the subject of age discrimination and discrimination laws. Then in some cases, the worker may be able to seek damages of up to double the amount of back pay awarded.

Last 10 posts by Ashley

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Oregon (OR) Age Discrimination Law in the Workplace »
Posted in Discrimination, Employment Laws, Hostile Environment, Oklahoma

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