As baby boomers enter the final stage of their working lives, ageism in the workplace has become increasingly pervasive. With the elimination of mandatory retirement in 2012, employees are choosing to remain in the workforce for longer. These significant demographic and legislative changes have resulted in an overall increase in age discrimination cases.
On an almost daily basis, older members of our workforce must confront misconceptions about their skillset, their health, and capacity for work. These stereotypes include notions that these employees are unable to adapt to a changing workplace, that they are more likely to miss work due to an illness or that it is not worth investing in their professional growth because they will retire soon. Employers may rely on these stereotypes to relegate existing senior employees to inferior positions, coerce them into early retirement or to justify refusing to hire older candidates.
Although lawyers are at the forefront of championing the rights of victims of ageism, ironically, ageism can also be found in the legal profession. Cases that have been litigated before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“Tribunal”) both highlight and expose the age bias that is implicit in the hiring practices of many law firms.
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