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Peter H. Taylor says Twitter engaged in age discrimination, and wrongfully terminated him. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Taylor Believes Twitter Engaged in Age Discrimination
You can read Taylor’s full complaint against Twitter in the document above.
SF Weekly writes that 57-year-old Taylor believes his dismissal from Twitter was based on age discrimination. Valley Wag notes that Taylor was previously employed as Twitter’s Manager of Data Center Deployment.
In the complaint, Taylor argues that a “substantially younger” supervisor at Twitter made negative comments about his age. Additionally, Taylor argues that when Twitter fired him without notice or explanation, the company subsequently hired new talent that consisted of people in their 20s and 30s.
2. Taylor’s Suit Echoes an Earlier Tech Lawsuit
The video above discusses the issue of age discrimination in tech start-ups.
Peter H. Taylor isn’t the only only person to accuse big tech companies of age discrimination. Back in 2004, computer scientist Brian Reid sued Google. Reid alleged that the company treated older workers unfairly, specifically stating that discriminatory behavior occurred against those workers over the age of 40. Reid, who was 54 at the time of his suit against Google, later settled out of court. The amount of the settlement was not revealed.
3. Taylor Claims to Have Been an ‘Exemplary’ Employee
In the video above, Damian Birkel, founder of Professionals in Transition, discusses age discrimination.
In the complaint, Taylor states that he was an “exemplary” employee while at Twitter. Most notably, he saved the company a reported $10 million dollars in the expansion of their data centers. In recognition of his achievements, Twitter gave Taylor 20,000 “restricted stock units.”
4. Peter Taylor Was Ill Before He Got Fired
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The complaint goes on to reveal that Taylor was diagnosed with kidney stones prior to his departure from Twitter. He required surgery, but arranged his work schedule so that he was still working full time. However, the complaint does state that Taylor worked less than he usually did when he was at full health. Taylor’s attorneys argue that the kidney stones should have been treated as a disability under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Valley Wag notes that Taylor was let go about a month after Taylor had his surgery.
5. Many Older Tech Professionals Struggle to Find Work
Survey: 92% believe age #discrimination in the workplace is “very” or “somewhat” common. http://t.co/L6ElzOHdcZ
— Patrick Barnett (@arsbackgrounds) July 10, 2014
The New York Times ran a reprint of the Bay Citizen’s article entitled “Old Techies Never Die; They Just Can’t Get Hired as an Industry Moves On.” This article highlights the struggle that some older workers in the tech industry face as a new generation of techies rises to the forefront. The struggle to find work can often be difficult in the state of California:
“While Web-based companies like Facebook and Google are scouring the world for new talent to hire, older technology workers often find that their skills are no longer valued.
Part of the problem, analysts said, is that many of the companies shedding jobs are technology manufacturers, while most of the companies that are hiring are Internet-based.
While employment figures published by the state Employment Development Department show that Silicon Valley’s technology sector has more than made up for job losses that occurred early in the recession, the rebound has not helped everyone.”