
More software engineers over age 40 may join a lawsuit against Google - insomniacjunkie
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/more-software-engineers-over-age-195308179.html
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cyberferret
To all those younger programmers who might drift by these sorts of articles
saying "Don't care, not my problem" \- I can guarantee with 100% absolute
total certainty that (unlike other racial or gender etc. bias issues) this one
WILL become your problem in the future unless you become part of the movement
to stamp it out...

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dsacco
Hey dang, could we change the title to something closer to the actual title
("More engineers over 40 may join lawsuit against Google")? It doesn't seem
neutral in my opinion.

As written, the title implies that Google is guilty of doing this, but it's
still unclear what the outcome of the case will be (as the article itself
states).

The only update here is that a judge ruled that this could become a collective
action. It remains to be seen what the ruling will be.

~~~
insomniacjunkie
I don't necessarily think that saying "Google sued over refusing to employ
engineers over 40 years of age" implies guilt or innocence - it merely states
the subject of the lawsuit. Nonetheless, you are right, it is an editorialized
version of the actual article's title. I have changed the title.

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cyberferret
As a 49.9 year old programmer who is only just getting used to being ignored
by startups and journalists, I can sympathise and support this.

But the onus of proof is going to be difficult to come by, isn't it? Unless
the HR rep has specifically said "You are too old to be employed here" then
they can simply cite a myriad of other excuses as to why they couldn't employ
you.

Will be interesting to see what the published median age of developers at
Google is. The article said 29 but I wonder if that is an official figure or
done via some other form of guesstimation.

~~~
tracker1
I somewhat agree... There's definitely a different response you get when you
say you have two decades of experience... Some strong assumptions come with
that. The harder part still is when you don't even get any response at all.
You just don't know, and it's hard to tell for certain. Legally age
discrimination isn't allowed, but proving it is nearly impossible. Of course
given the background of the people behind the suit, it's pretty easy to show
given the number of times they reached out and only after face to face
interviews declined to offer a position.

As someone who's not getting any younger (42), fat, and doesn't have a formal
education, three things that shouldn't be a factor in my job. They really do
count against you.

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beaubrummell
I was hired by Google in 2007 at the ripe old age of 43. I worked there for 8
years and there were lots of people who were my age or older and we were never
treated with anything but respect by everyone at the company. I think this is
simply sour grapes by some people who couldn't make the cut.

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savvyraccoon
So as soon as you turned 51, they just got rid of you.

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beaubrummell
Not really. Our team spun off and my boss worked really hard to keep me. My
good friend left last year to go to a startup and just rejoined there (working
for You Tube) at the age of 53.

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wodencafe
Good, this "Age Bias" trend is worrisome and more attention should be brought
to it.

I wish them luck in their lawsuit.

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greenyoda
Extensive discussion of an earlier article:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12661187](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12661187)

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sverige
Yeah, requiring graduation dates so they can know an applicant's age, and
telling the applicant that's the reason, is pretty blatant. Unsurprising
though.

~~~
mburshteyn1
good thing I took my sweet time getting through school.

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jcslzr
The reason 40+ don't get hired is that the first thing the guy hiring worries
about its not hiring someone who can take his job.

