to discriminate due to age. In fact the opposite is true, and exemplified by the employment of numerous teachers on campus that are age 59 years or older. Despite this insistence, the teacher persisted and noted that she was asked her age during an interview. She also demanded to understand why she had been denied employment, if not due to age. She was informed that employment was denied since another candidate was more qualified than she was. Coincidentally, the employee hired was also younger. This explanation was not deemed satisfactory to the teacher and she stated that she intended to take her complaint to a higher authority (the Department of Education). The meeting continued and the teacher was asked regarding her ability to perform certain activities such as those related to computer or technological innovations. The teacher's response showed that her abilities were not adequate for the job in question. This was offered as the reason for job denial. Another position was available and offered to the teacher that demanded fewer of these abilities. The teacher accepted the position and dropped the complaint.
Discussion of Opinions Related to This Issue
In my opinion, this teacher was indeed discriminated against due to age or age-related stereotypical beliefs. It was presumed that due to her age, she would be unable to perform certain advanced technological skills, since many older adults fall into this category. Rather than providing a direct assessment of her actual skills, which would have been proper grounds for job denial, assumptions were made based on bias and discrimination related to age. Knowing this teacher personally, I asked if her computer abilities were asked about or assessed in the first place and she stated that they were not. While she was happy with the outcome and decided not peruse the possibility of age discrimination any further, I feel that this discrimination did take place and the c...