Manhattan Age Discrimination Lawyers

They’re Pushing You Out. You Just Can’t Prove It Yet.

You’ve been with your company for years. Your reviews were solid. Then a new manager came in, younger colleagues started getting the assignments you used to own, and suddenly you’re being “restructured” out of a job you were good at.

Age discrimination rarely comes with a smoking gun. Employers are smart about it. But that doesn’t make what happened to you legal, and it doesn’t mean you’re powerless.

At Carey & Associates, P.C., we represent Manhattan employees who have been pushed out, passed over, or pushed around because of their age. Attorney Mark Carey has been fighting these battles for nearly three decades, and he’s direct about something most lawyers won’t say out loud: employers count on you not knowing your rights. The Employee Survival Guide® podcast exists to change that.

What the Law Actually Says

Federal and New York State law both protect workers from age-based discrimination. The key laws you should know:

• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits employers from discriminating against workers 40 and older in hiring, firing, pay, promotions, and other employment decisions
• The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) adds critical protections around severance agreements, including mandatory review periods and specific language requirements that many employers routinely ignore
• The New York State Human Rights Law goes further than federal law in several ways, offering broader protections and applying to smaller employers

Together, these laws cover the full arc of employment, from the job posting to the exit package. If age was a motivating factor in any of those decisions, that’s discrimination.

How Employers Actually Do This

Age discrimination doesn’t usually look like someone saying “you’re too old for this job.” It tends to be quieter and more calculated. Mark covers exactly this kind of corporate behavior on the Employee Survival Guide®, including a deep dive into a real age discrimination lawsuit against IKEA, where a long-term employee alleged the company systematically favored younger workers. It’s a textbook example of how this plays out in practice.

In our experience, here’s what age discrimination actually looks like on the ground:

• Older employees being excluded from meetings, projects, or communications that used to include them
• Performance issues being “discovered” right around the time a younger replacement is being considered
• Layoffs that disproportionately target workers over 40 while younger employees in similar roles are retained
• Job postings written with language that skews toward younger applicants
• Pressure to accept early retirement or a severance package under artificial time pressure

If any of this sounds familiar, trust your instincts, and get legal advice before you sign anything.

The Severance Trap

One of the most important things we do for clients is review severance agreements before they sign them. Here’s why this matters so much in age discrimination cases specifically: the OWBPA requires that any severance agreement waiving an age discrimination claim must include specific language, give workers 21 days to consider it (or 45 days in a group layoff), and allow a 7-day revocation period after signing.

Employers violate these rules more often than you’d think. When they do, the waiver may be invalid, which means you may still have the right to bring a claim even if you already signed.

Don’t let the clock run out before you find this out.

What You Should Do Right Now

If you think you’ve been discriminated against because of your age, here’s what matters most in the early stage:

• Document everything. Write down what happened, when, and who was involved. Save emails, performance reviews, and any communications that show the pattern. The more specific, the better.
• Don’t sign anything yet. If you’ve been offered severance, you have time; federal law guarantees it. Use that time to talk to an attorney.
• Get legal help early. Age discrimination claims have filing deadlines. Waiting too long can cost you the right to bring a claim at all.

Talk to a Manhattan Age Discrimination Lawyer Today

You’ve worked hard to build your career. If your employer is trying to push you out because of your age, that’s not just unfair; it’s illegal, and you have the right to fight back. At Carey & Associates, P.C., we’ll give you a straight answer about what you’re dealing with and what your options are. No runaround, no sugarcoating.

Call us at (914) 547-0331 or contact us online for a completely confidential consultation. We handle age discrimination cases in Manhattan, throughout New York City, and across the state.