Company Branch Subjected a Class of Older Workers to Discriminatory Hiring and Recruitment Practices, Federal Agency Charges

TRENTON, n.j. – Hatzel & Buehler, Inc., a commercial electrical contractor with branch locations in eight states and the District of Columbia, violated federal law by subjecting a class of workers aged 40 and older to discriminatory hiring and recruitment for positions in its New Jersey branch, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, since at least November 2020, Hatzel & Buehler has refused to hire older applicants and job candidates for project manager and estimator positions at its New Jersey branch because of their ages. The EEOC’s lawsuit charges that the vice president of Hatzel & Buehler’s New Jersey branch requested that a recruiting company seek out younger project manager and estimator candidates for Hatzel & Buhler job opportunities, and that he refused to hire older workers because they did not fall within his stated age range.

The EEOC’s lawsuit also charges that the same vice president engaged in age-discriminatory recruitment practices and failed to retain job applicant and hiring-related records in violation of federal law.

Such alleged conduct violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which prohibits age discrimination in employment, including refusing to recruit or hire candidates because they are 40 years of age and older. The EEOC filed suit (U.S. EEOC v. Hatzel & Buehler, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:23-cv-03093-MAS-JBD) in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey located in Trenton, N.J. after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the agency’s conciliation process.

“American workers are staying in the workforce longer than ever before,” said EEOC Philadelphia District Office Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence. “It is imperative that the EEOC protect the rights of older workers to be free from age discrimination at every step of the employment process.”

EEOC Philadelphia District Office Director Jamie R. Williamson added, “The EEOC is committed to enforcing the ADEA and ensuring that recruitment and hiring decisions involving older workers are based on the candidates’ qualifications, not age.”

For more information on age discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/age-discrimination.

The lawsuit was commenced by the EEOC’s Philadelphia District. The Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, portions of Ohio, and West Virginia. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C. and portions of Virginia.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.