Dive Brief:
- A 40+ California software developer who is trying to make the case that Google consistently discriminates against older job applicants convinced the court to agree to invite others to join a class action lawsuit against the search giant, according to Fortune.
- U.S. District Judge Beth Freeman explored how age affects someone's “Googleyness” (a word used to describe the intangible factors of someone that would be a good fit at Google) and then told Google to deliver a list of software engineers older than 40 who were interviewed but didn't get a job. The judge also agreed to conditionally certify a class action, Fortune reports.
- The plaintiff in the case is Cheryl Fillekes, who had Google interviews for four different jobs she was qualified for between 2007 and 2014. Fillekes didn't get any of them and said it was due to her age. She also claimed that a recruiter asked her to provide graduation dates on her resume as a way to determine her age, according to court records.
Dive Insight:
As Fortune explains, the ruling does not mean Fillekes will be a sure-fire winner, because the case is based on a lesser-used “two-step” rule employed in some labor law cases. Mainly, she can notify everyone else in her position that they may opt in to the case. And while Google will try to decertify the case, Fortune cites a Law360 report that says employees beat decertification motions 64% of the time in 2015.
With Google and other Silicon Valley employers constantly trying to boost their diversity data, a legal loss in this case certainly would prove a major blow to Google, as well as send out a fair warning for all tech companies in their recruiting efforts. While hiring younger people seems a logical move due to the typical skillsets needed, the issue should be qualifications, not age. Google has protested in this case that its average age is over 40, while the plaintiff's attorney says it's 29 - a relatively large gap.
