Google investigated over allegations of age discrimination

Google is being investigated by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in relation to alleged age discrimination. Details of the charges have not been revealed, but it is understood that the EEOC has received numerous complaints about ageism in relation to the company. Professor Norman Matloff, who researches age discrimination in the technology sector, says that younger staff are preferred because they are cheaper. Website PayScale estimates that whereas a 27-year-old developer could expect a salary of $112,000, this figure would rise to $153,000 for a 47-year-old employee. The lawsuit is expected to come to trial in May of next year.

Jessica Guynn

USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating complaints of age discrimination by Google, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.

Cheryl Fillekes, a systems engineer who interviewed with but was not hired by Google when she was 47, made reference to the EEOC investigation in her age discrimination lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The EEOC did not respond to a request for comment. Google declined to comment.

The investigation comes as Silicon Valley finds itself in the national spotlight for its lack of racial and gender diversity. Earlier this month Google released the racial and gender breakdown of its workforce for the third time. It does not disclose a breakdown by age. Tech leaders have for years placed a premium on youth, earning Silicon Valley the reputation for being "one the most ageist places in America."

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Fillekes joined an age discrimination lawsuit filed in April 2015 by Robert Heath who says he was turned down for a software engineering job in 2011 when he was 60 years old, despite having experience working at IBM, Compaq and General Dynamics.

Heath's lawsuit cites a survey of employees by Payscale.com that found that Google had a median age of 29 in 2013. It also refers to an earlier lawsuit in which a former Google executive, Brian Reid, said he was called "an old fuddy duddy" and told his ideas were "too old to matter." That case was settled.

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According to the Mercury News, Google admitted it in court filings that it did not hire Heath and Fillekes after reaching out to them. "Google alleges its actions were motivated by reasonable factors other than age," the company said in July 2015.

Heath and Fillekes are both seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class action.