The latest target of the plaintiff’s overly-aggressive tactics—a company’s use of recruitment ads in hiring employees.  All industries and all forms of advertising are potentially coming under attack, including social media platforms and websites dedicated to employee recruiting.  Specifically, the plaintiff’s bar has repeatedly targeted certain advertisements on social media sites that encourage individuals to apply for jobs at their company, using information obtained from user profiles.

What is the claim?

The legal argument being asserted is that the advertisements are alleged class violations of federal, state, and local laws that prohibit age discrimination in employment advertising, recruitment, sourcing, and hiring, including the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).  The theory is as follows: certain social media sites have a feature that allows a user to see the reason they were identified to receive a particular advertisement.  The language under the targeted advertisement might state, for example, that the company intends for the ad to reach a certain demographic, i.e. people ages 28 to 45 who live or were recently in the United States.  The plaintiff’s bar is seizing upon this type of advertisement and language to allege that the plaintiff is in receipt of direct evidence that the company “regularly targets younger prospective job applicants on [social media sites]” and, therefore, that the Company is likely engaged in other forms of hiring discrimination.  Based on these ads and these allegations, the plaintiff’s bar is threatening legal action—including filing class and associational charges of discrimination with federal, state, and/or local agencies.

How can we help?

Our Class Actions and Complex Litigation team has been tracking this issue very closely.  Our goal in bringing these lawsuits to your attention is to provide information and advance notice around a potentially serious issue.  To respond to these threats, Jackson Lewis has put together an internal team to provide an immediate response and to efficiently handle the defense of this issue.  If you have any questions, or if you would like to discuss your Company’s recruiting and hiring practices in more detail, please reach out to Stephanie Adler-Paindiris, Paul Patten, and Eric Magnus.

 

 

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Photo of Stephanie L. Adler-Paindiris Stephanie L. Adler-Paindiris

Stephanie L. Adler-Paindiris is a Principal and the Co-Leader of the firm’s Class Actions and Complex Litigation practice group. Her practice focuses exclusively on the representation of employers at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts facing class and collective…

Stephanie L. Adler-Paindiris is a Principal and the Co-Leader of the firm’s Class Actions and Complex Litigation practice group. Her practice focuses exclusively on the representation of employers at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts facing class and collective actions as well as claims of discrimination, retaliation or whistleblowing activity on an individual basis.  She also appears regularly before administrative judges and agencies.

Ms. Adler-Paindiris has conducted over a dozen trials before juries and judges in state and federal courts. In addition, Ms. Adler has participated in arbitrations and administrative hearings before the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings as well as AAA and FINRA. Ms. Adler-Paindiris has successfully defended appeals before four Courts of Appeals and has been admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ms. Adler-Paindiris also provides on-going legal support and counsel on a daily basis for many of her clients. She routinely provides training to managers and supervisors in all areas of employment law, including but not limited to, supervisory training, sexual and racial harassment prevention, disciplinary practice, documentation policies, safety and disability management.

Ms. Adler-Paindiris is also the Co-Leader of Jackson Lewis’ Women’s Interest Network or “WIN” working with the firm’s women attorneys and clients to increase diversity and inclusion efforts both internally and with our clients.

Ms. Adler-Paindiris is active in her community supporting a number of organizations related to her five children. She is also passionate about volunteering her time and services to the Wounded Warrior Project and other organizations.

Photo of Eric R. Magnus Eric R. Magnus

Eric R. Magnus is a principal in the Atlanta, Georgia, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He is co-leader of the Class Actions and Complex Litigation practice group. His practice is focused on defending federal and state wage and hour class and collective actions…

Eric R. Magnus is a principal in the Atlanta, Georgia, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He is co-leader of the Class Actions and Complex Litigation practice group. His practice is focused on defending federal and state wage and hour class and collective actions in jurisdictions across the United States.