Google Challenges Motion in Age Discrimination Class Action

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Google recently filed a motion to try and have an age discrimination lawsuit denied conditional class certification.

The cutting-edge tech titian is facing accusations that the company is reluctant to hire people over the age of 40.

The Google age discrimination lawsuit was originally filed by plaintiff Robert Heath, who alleged that Google would not hire him purely because of his age.

Heath interviewed for Google in 2011 and says he has more than three decades of experience working as a software engineer. Heath was 60 when he interviewed with Google, and was allegedly turned down for the position.

A second plaintiff, Cheryl Fillekes, joined the suit last year. Fillekes claims that she did great at initial phone interviews, but was turned down for a job at Google when they realized her age.

The pair allege that Google’s actions violate the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the federal government’s Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), both of which proscribe penalties for age discrimination.

The current motion would turn the Google age discrimination lawsuit from a group of individual suits into a single Google class action lawsuit. However, the plaintiffs have apparently missed a deadline to file a motion to seek conditional class certification, per Google’s response to the motion.

The text of Google’s motion states that the original deadline to file a motion for conditional class certification was in January of this year, though the court extended it to March.

But the motion, again, per Google’s response, was not actually filed until June 13. The motion set a hearing date of November 10. Google argues that there is no good cause to alter the court’s scheduling.

“The court would need to make dramatic changes to the current schedule and continue the trial date in order to accommodate plaintiffs’ motion,” Google argued.

Google’s motion in the age discrimination lawsuit also touches on allegations that the suit is making excessive demands for discovery.

According to Google, the plaintiffs have allegedly sought names, ages, and contact info for potential Class Members. In other words, the discovery requests are seeking information about all potential hires at Google for the past six years.

Google argues that the motion filed in the Google age discrimination lawsuit would potentially give the plaintiffs an unfair advantage in the suit, denying Google the opportunity for expert discovery and time to adequately respond to motions.

The Google age discrimination lawsuit asserts that the median age of a Google worker is 29 while the average computer programmer in the U.S. workforce is 43. The suit further alleges that Google preferentially gives bonuses and superior performance reviews to employees under the age of 40.

Fillekes is represented by Daniel L. Low and Daniel A. Kotchen of Kotchen & Low LLP, Michael F. Brown of DVG Law Partner LLC, and George S. Duesdieker and Vonda K. Vandaveer of V.K. Vandaveer PLLC; while Heath is represented by Dow Wakefield Patten of Smith Patten.

The Google Age Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Robert Heath, et al. v. Google Inc., Case No. 5:15-cv-01824, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On July 29, 2016, Google filed a motion opposing the conditional certification of a collective class action lawsuit alleging the tech giant’s hiring practices are discriminatory against individuals over the age of 40.

UPDATE 2: On Sept. 12, 2016, Google lost its motion to deny certification to a Class of job applicants who claim they were discriminated against in an age bias class action lawsuit.

UPDATE 3: On Oct. 4, 2016, a federal judge granted plaintiff Cheryl Fillekes’ motion for certification, discounting defendant Google’s argument that the plaintiff failed to allege company-wide discriminatory policies or behavior.

UPDATE 4: On July 19, 2019, Google has reached a settlement worth $11 million with close to 230 engineers who sued the company over claims that they were discriminated against because of their age.