Civil Rights Commission to hold hearing on age discrimination of the unemployed

In news from across the pond, the United States Commission on Civil Rights will hold a public briefing on Friday 11 June 2010 in Washington D.C. with a panelof experts to examine the recession, unemployment and the effects on older workers.

The Commission will also investigate whether potential age discrimination by employers contributes to the increase in long-term unemployment in older workers.

The Commission will hear testimony from witnesses analyzing statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources, on whether older workers are less employed than in earlier years, the duration of unemployment, and whether age discrimination lawsuits have increased during the economic downturn.

The panel will also consider the effectiveness of the US's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the equivalent of the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission) in enforcing age discrimination laws as well as the effect of recent Supreme Court decisions on age discrimination claims.