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During Miki Herman’s long and diverse career in business operations and strategy, incidents of workplace age discrimination cropped up more than once. “I’ve actually been on both sides of
it,” said Herman, 76, a Portland resident and AARP Oregon volunteer, who is now retired. In 2008, Herman was invited for a late-stage, in-person interview for a senior management role at a
well-known Oregon-based company. She was prepared to explain how her skill set perfectly matched what the job required. But, instead, she was hit with probing questions about her stamina and
fitness, she recalled. “My experience was exactly what they needed, but they said my look did not align with their lifestyle, athletic brands or culture,” Herman said. “I knew they were
talking about my age, and I was not surprised when I was not invited back." Years later, Herman found herself in a management meeting at a major national company, searching for ways to
cut costs. A job restructuring was initially proposed, but when the ages of employees and estimates of how long it would be before they retired started dominating discussions, Herman knew
something wasn’t right. JOIN OUR FIGHT AGAINST AGE DISCRIMINATION Sign up to become an AARP activist on issues important to people 50 and older, including age discrimination. “We then
targeted just the older workers under the guise that they were the highest-paid employees,” she recalled. “In some cases that was true, but in other cases it was not. It was clear to me that
we were using the subterfuge of ‘high salary’ as a proxy to engage in age discrimination.” Herman’s experiences are not rare. In fact, AARP research shows that almost two-thirds of workers
age 50 or older report seeing or experiencing age bias in their workplace and that 90 percent believe that age discrimination against older workers is common today. That’s why AARP is
fighting for better legal protections to ensure that older workers are treated fairly based on their qualifications, not their age. At the federal level, we are urging Congress to pass
several pieces of legislation this year, including the sweeping Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA), which would reset the current tough standard of proof for
victims of age bias to win in court. We are also working with state legislatures to bolster state protections older workers. AARP Oregon recently spearheaded efforts to get a bill (HB 3187
A) passed that prohibits employers from requiring or requesting an applicant's age, date of birth or graduation dates until after an initial interview unless they're needed to
comply with federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Governor Tina Kotek signed the legislation on May 22. Oregon is the seventh state to implement this type of law. Last year,
Colorado’s Job Application Fairness Act, backed by AARP Colorado, went into effect, which also bans employers from requiring or requesting a prospective employee’s age, date of birth or
graduation dates in an initial job application. Connecticut’s “ban the box” bill, which was backed by AARP Connecticut and went into effect in 2021, does the same for employers with at least
three employees. California, Delaware, Minnesota and Pennsylvania have similar laws.