*** Watch Senator Gillibrand’s opening statement here ***
In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, ranking member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, led a committee hearing this morning to discuss the urgent need to protect older Americans from age discrimination in the workplace.
The vast majority of older workers have reported witnessing age discrimination. According to a 2024 AARP survey, 64% of older workers have either seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. Witnesses at the hearing shared insights on the specific challenges faced by seniors in the workplace and discussed how employers, communities, and lawmakers can take action to protect older workers.
During the hearing, Senator Gillibrand called for the passage of the Protecting Older Americans Act, which she introduced today alongside Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to protect seniors facing age discrimination at work. This vital legislation would invalidate forced arbitration clauses that prevent age discrimination victims from seeking justice and public accountability, ensuring that seniors can file their cases in court.
Opening statement as prepared for delivery:
Chairman Scott, thank you for providing us the opportunity to discuss this incredibly important topic: age discrimination. And thank you to our witnesses for being here today and for fighting for the rights of older Americans and their families.
You all know what it can be like to spend a lifetime working hard, building your career, and contributing to our economy. And you can imagine how devastating it can be to experience discrimination because of how old you are. Nobody wants to feel like their contributions don’t matter, especially not because of some arbitrary characteristic like age. But far too often, older workers are being denied employment, passed over for promotions, or even fired just because of their age.
According to research conducted by AARP, 64 percent of workers age 50-plus have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. And of that population, 90 percent believe that age discrimination against older workers is common in the workplace today. In that same report, more than 1 in 5 older Americans said that they worried that they were being pushed out of their job because of their age. This comes as Americans have started working later in life, with workers who are over 75 years old becoming the fastest growing age group in the workforce
In a time when the population of older Americans is growing and many are returning to the workforce, we need to make sure that those who face age discrimination can have their day in court. Victims of age discrimination often can’t seek justice or accountability in court because of a forced arbitration clause that they signed when they were hired. Many employees are not even aware that their employment contract contained a forced arbitration clause. It traps those who experience workplace discrimination in a system that advantages their employer — preventing them from seeking information that could help to prove their case. And victims are left in the hands of an extrajudicial arbitrator who is often selected by their employer and not always a trained lawyer.
It’s no surprise then that employees are often less likely to win in arbitration than they are in court. Building on our successful effort to ban forced arbitration in cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault, Senator Lindsey Graham and I are reintroducing the Protecting Older Americans Act, which would invalidate forced arbitration clauses in cases of age discrimination.
It would allow those who have experienced age discrimination the option to file their case in court if they choose, even if they previously signed a forced arbitration clause. It gives them a voice in the process and the ability to seek justice.
If employees decide, though, that they would like to pursue arbitration when they have faced age discrimination, they can. The point is that employees will now have a choice. The crux of the issue is that despite the fact that workplace age discrimination is categorically illegal, and that Congress has already passed laws to protect older Americans from it, forced arbitration clauses subvert justice.
They allow employers to hide illegal conduct behind closed doors. And they shield those who have committed serious misconduct from the public eye. But now we have an opportunity for broad bipartisanship at a time when many Americans feel Congress is too divided to get things done.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today as well as discussing these critical issues.
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