By Michael Casey | The Associated Press
Defense contractor RTX, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corp., was sued Tuesday over allegations that it discriminated against older workers in job ads.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston accuses RTX of posting ads that target younger workers at the expense of their older peers in violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Act, and the Virginia Human Rights Act.
The lawsuit alleges the multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate based in Arlington, Va. posted ads seeking job applicants who are recent graduates or have less than two years’ experience, which excluded older workers from consideration or deterred them from applying in the first place.
“Americans are living and working longer than ever, yet unfair and discriminatory hiring practices are keeping older workers from jobs they’re qualified for,” the AARP Foundation’s senior vice president for litigation, William Alvarado Rivera, said in a statement. “Raytheon’s intentional discrimination against experienced job candidates, simply because of their age, is illegal and unacceptable.”
In a statement, the company denied the allegations.
“RTX complies with all relevant age discrimination laws and we’re committed to maintaining a diverse workforce,” RTX said. “We believe these claims are entirely without merit and we will actively defend our hiring practices.”
A 2023 AARP survey found that nearly one in six adults reported they were not hired for a job they applied for within the past two years because of their age. Half of job seekers reported they were asked by an employer to produce provide their birthdate during the application or interview process.
About half of Americans also think there’s age discrimination in the workplace, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But there’s a split by age. The poll finds 60% of adults…
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