Hiring team labeled candidate 'too old' for the job. Their words cost them $495,000 from the company's pockets
He was 'too old' for the job but got $495K from the company
An internal email stating a job candidate was “too old” for a role ended up costing HCL America a $495,000 settlement. The complaint filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stated that the company interviewed the candidate and rejected him due to his age, according to HR Drive's report on April 7. In the email sent by the sales director to the hiring team, the candidate was described as “too old” for the role. The same email also directed the team to look for “diverse candidates,” which in this context referred to individuals who were non-Indian, female, or both.
HCL America, a technology consulting company located in Santa Clarita, California, was charged with two counts: a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed the case in August 2024, and both sides later agreed to settle instead of taking it to court, with the agreement documented in a consent decree filed on April 2.
Christopher Green, the district director of EEOC, said in a statement, "Hiring must be based on merit — not age or national origin — as the ADEA and Title VII require. The EEOC is committed to evenhanded enforcement of anti-discrimination laws and will hold employers accountable when they deny applicants opportunities because of their age or national origin." Andrea Lucas, the EEOC chair, also said, "This suit illustrates how discriminatory hiring in the name of achieving diversity can harm any applicant. The EEOC will continue to act to stop employers from unlawfully hiring based on protected characteristics."
Since the EEOC and HCL America have come to an agreement and a consent decree, the latter will have to abide by certain rules. HCL America will pay the applicant a sum of $495,000, and it will also work with a third-party consultant to go over their policies regarding age and national origin-based discrimination and update them. This case shows that HR needs to be trained in such a way that they can override managers when the latter's hiring decisions break employment laws. Since the responsibility of making sure the rules are followed by everyone lies with HRs, they should be given the right to investigate, keep records, and report such incidents.
Just because someone is given the title of manager at work does not mean that they know everything. Several managers are not well-trained, and a study on first-time managers proved it. According to a study, 60% of managers admitted that they were not given any training for the role, employees reported that 20% of first-time managers were doing a poor job, and 26% of the first-time managers felt they were not ready to step into a leadership position.
In the official statement of the EEOC, Roberta L. Steele, the regional attorney for the EEOC's San Francisco District Office, said, "Employers must ensure they are in compliance with federal law and provide training for hiring managers and recruiters to understand their responsibilities to prevent age and national origin discrimination. We encourage all employers to adopt policies and provide training to prevent discrimination."
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