"You may fool
all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people
all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the
time". -- Abraham Lincoln.
A
TRAVESTY OF SWORN COMMITMENTS TO UPHOLD CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY LAWS
Disdain
for criminals who scam vulnerable people for their money is well publicized.
But overlooked is a more devastating fraud that is being perpetrated on
older Americans, their families and communities. Furthermore,
the abominations are protected and concealed by elected officials,
government agencies and the courts.
Increasingly evident are
policy makers' persistent condonation, support and concealment
of labor market ageism, resulting in deprivation of Americans
over age 55, regardless of our knowledge, skills, abilities and aspirations.
Exclusion from opportunities to use, update and learn new skills
are incapacitating us for competing for jobs in a rapidly advancing society.
Protracted frustration
and envy -generated hostility toward favored younger age groups are
fostering inter generational animosity, and hostility and distrust
toward our government.
Meanwhile, tax
payers are increasingly being pressured to share their resources with disenfranchised
relatives and forced to pay skyrocketing expenditures for welfare subsistence
and health care programs for treating deprivation engendered physical
and emotional health problems.
Based on the enormity
of their actions and omissions and the resulting pervasive injuries
to society, policy makers and the courts are making a
travesty of their sworn commitment to uphold Constitutional and statutory
law, as summarized below.
Accordingly, it is
incumbent on President Bush to issue Executive Orders for monetary
awards and affirmative action to compensate the victims and to deter repetition
of these abominations
SUMMARY
OF CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY VIOLATIONS
The
Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
"...that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty
or property without due process of law" --Amendment V, U.S. Constitution.
The key words are " liberty" and "due process
of law"
"Liberties" refer to freedoms "to engage in the
common and lawful occupations of live ..to acquire useful knowledge" Black's
Law Dictionary. Sixth Ed.--pg. 918
"Due Process of Law" is
defined as "...a course of legal proceedings according to those rules and
principles which have been established in our system of jurisprudence for
the enforcement and protection of private rights" --Black's Law
Dictionary, Sixth Ed--pg 500.
Note that due process proceedings
require courts of competent jurisdiction. The Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission(EEOC), an administrative agency, is not a court, and not empowered
to provide Fifth Amendment due process rights. However, for
most complainants, the EEOC is the only available venue.
The majority of
older workers are denied due process in age discrimination cases,
because the courts erect formidable obstacles to getting trials
(Click link on side bar to see The Cooling System)
The
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967(ADEA)
"(a) It shall be
unlawful for an employer-
(1) to fail or refuse
to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate
against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions,
or privileges of employment, because of such individual's age;
(2) to limit, segregate,
or classify his employees in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive
any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely
affect his status as an employee, because of such individual's age;
or
(3) to reduce the
wage rate of any employee in order to comply with this chapter'.
--29 USC 621 et seq. SEC. 623. [Section 4] 1
See also Congress's
statement of purpose and goals of the ADEA in 1975 2
Note the qualifier in the language of the ADEA -- "because
of such individual's age". The prohibited actions violate the ADEA,
if they are done "because of such individual's age". If they
are justified by reasons other than age, no violation exists.
Accordingly, employers indeed justify discriminatory actions with
reasons other than age.
The
Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
The
Fourteenth Amendment supposedly requires the states to ensure that individual
rights are not abridged without due process of law. Additionally, it requires
the states to afford similarly situated individuals equal protections of
the laws. Amendment XIV, US Constitution
However, the federal government is willfully neglecting
these protections for older workers, not only in affording meaningful
due process, but also in invoking equal protections of the laws.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act -3
prohibits job discrimination based on race, national origin and sex.
Ethnic minorities and females were also protected by affirmative action
regulations.
Apparently, the statute was deemed inadequate for protecting
these groups from job discrimination.
Unequal
Protections For Similarly Situated Classes
Age is determined by genetic and biological processes
that lay the groundwork for the aging process and life spans. Ageism
is now a well known reason for job discrimination. Accordingly, given these
basic and significant common factors, all of these protected classes
as similarly situated.
Nonetheless, affirmative action laws, that
were deemed critical to enforcing anti discrimination laws for women and
ethnic minorities, are denied workers over age 55 -- in violation
of the 14th Amendment Equal Protection clause.
Fraud
A definition of "Fraud" is "The intentional perversion
of the truth
for the purpose of inducing another in reliance
upon it to part with some valuable thing belonging to him or to surrender
a legal right" --Blacks Law Dictionary, 6th Ed.
By promising aging citizens
protection from job discrimination, ADEA deters employers only
from
revealing that age is the bases for refusing to hire, promote or for discharging
older workers. In other words,
ADEA penalizes employers for failing to adequately conceal and distort
the truth of their discriminatory actions.
In reliance on the ADEA ,
victimized older workers are unwittingly relinquishing their rights to
mobilize in retaliatory action. Summarily, they are being defrauded
by our government,
Retirement By Force or Fraud
Is Not Voluntary Retirement
Criticalthe distinction between
voluntarily surrendering rights,
and forcible deprivation.
We may volunarily forfeit rights e.g. by receiving disability or retirement
benefits that are contingent on partial or total withdrawal from the labor
force On the other hand, older workers who -- without
their consent and reciprocal benefits -- are barred from employment
because of their age -- are forcibly deprived of these rights.
In the legal system, when
injury or loss result from force, negligence or fraud, the goal of
compensation is to make victims whole(as much as possible).
Elapsed time cannot be retrieved. Monetary compensation is the only
available remedy.
WHO
WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS PETITION
Workers
over age 55
If
you are involuntarily unemployed or under-employed because of labor
market ageism, your active involvement in this movement adds
to our power base. and. hence, bolsters your chances
of relief from the degradation and impoverishment of labor market ageism.
Workers
Under Age 55
As
a friend recently remarked, younger people will eventually face the
same problems, if conditions are not changed.
Furthermore,
compensation and affirmative action will permit more aging people to be
self - supporting, relieving family members from burdens of
sharing their homes and money with aging parents.
Thus,
by actively and visibly supporting this petition, you
are investing in your future.
Tax
Payers
Tax payers are now paying
for food stamps, subsidized housing and other welfare costs for supporting
older workers who are disenfranchised by labor market ageism.
Additionally, they
must support palliative programs for masking the causes of the injurious
effects -- i.e.: grants for mental health and social service agencies,
and increasing medical costs for treating deprivation caused diseases.
These costs are bound to shrink along with the reduced caseloads of these
programs.
Secondly, obligations for
compensation payments will escalate pressure on policy makers to enforce
safeguards against age discrimination, e.g.: affirmative action policies
and employer incentives for employing people over age 55 in government
and corporate jobs. As discrimination diminishes, needs
for covering up the disgrace will diminish as well as the need and
costs of compensation.
WHO
SHOULD BE ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION AND HOW MUCH SHOULD THEY GET?
People
over age 55, without other retirement income(except Social Security
benefits)
who have been continuously unemployed or under employed for six or more
months , who have been seeking appropriate employment for which
they are qualified. Awards should be based on the amounts
they could have earned, if opportunities were available to them,
based on current pay scales.
PROPOSED
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN.
Based
on statistical evidence of exclusion of people over age 55 from most
jobs, affirmative action policies are desperately needed to bolster
our opportunities to re-enter the workforce and regain the rewards they
would receive, but for labor market ageism.
INCENTIVES
TO EMPLOYERS
Compliance
with affirmative action policies for people over age 55 should be a mandated
condition of receiving government funds. This mandate should apply
to government employers, given they are supported by the tax payers,
Incentives such as tax breaks and training subsidies should be available
for other private sector employers for employing people over
age
55.
NOTICE
The
foregoing article is intended only for
general
information, and should not be considered
legal
advice for any particular case. You should
consult
a licensed attorney for advice pertaining
to
the facts of your specific case.
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