Unfair hiring practice

[maltma]

What is the name of your state? Florida
I am a 44 year old white male. On November 11, 2003 the company I work for (fortune 500) restructured one of its divisions that resulted in the loss of approximately 180 jobs, one of them being mine. During the restructure approximately 150 new positions were created. The employees in my department were told that the interview and hiring process for these new positions would be open to those effected. However, the manger of my department denied my request to interview for several of these positions. Employees in other departments were allowed to interview for numerous positions thereby increasing their chances of being retained, but I was allowed to interview for only one position. Several of my coworkers encountered the same situation. I feel this is very unfair and wonder if there is any legal recourse?

 

[Beth3]

Did the boss offer any explanation as to why he prohibited you from interviewing for these positions? His actions would only be illegal if he treated you differently than other employees BECAUSE of your membership in a protected class - i.e. your gender, race, age, national origin, religion, handicap, etc.

 

[maltma]

Thanks for your reply!
Clearly there was no age discrimination because some of my coworkers that were also denied interviews were under 40 years of age. We were denied an interview for a position that was similiar to ours because of our "skill sets" and the "competition".
Another words, they held these positions as parachutes for employees from another department. This is evident by the fact that all of these positions have been filled by employees from that department. The single position that we were allowed to interview for was so far above our skill sets as to be laughable.

 

[Beth3]

Then what you describe may have been very unfair but nothing you have shared remotely suggests anything illegal took place. If they wanted to give those jobs to the employees in another department, they were free to do so.