REJECTED APPLICANT BECAUSE THEY WANTED SOMEONE “MORE JUNIOR”
A Madison, Wisconsin, company known as Exact Sciences Corp., has agreed to file a federal lawsuit which had been filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Accused of rejecting a 49-year-old applicant for a sales position because he was “overqualified,” and the company was searching for a “more junior” individual,” who would stay “for years to come,” the EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Exact Sciences Corporation, Case No.1:23-cv-00817), seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
In addition to a monetary payment of $90,000, the company has agreed to modify its training and employment practices.
In a written statement, Amy Burkholder, director of the EEOC’s Denver Office, noted that “The ADEA applies to employers who use third-party recruiters to screen job applicants …. Recruiters are not free to discriminate based on age, or to refuse hire to applicants over 40 who may be making mid-career job transitions, and often bring valuable prior work experience.”
Was that one for the ages?
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