More and more employers are seeking employees on the internet through targeted advertisements on Facebook. Employers can target these advertisements to certain users based on age, location, interests, experience, among other things, and the advertisements will only be sent to those users that fit the qualifications. Arguably these targeted advertisements help employers to get the advertisements to those potential candidates who will be most interested in or qualified for the job. However, older workers recently have argued that these targeted advertisements constitute age discrimination in violation of state and federal anti-discrimination laws.

On December 20, 2017 a class of plaintiffs filed a complaint against T-Mobile, Amazon.com, Cox Communications, Cox Media Group, and all other similar situated employers for age discrimination. Specifically, the plaintiffs allege that the defendants targeted their employment advertisements to younger workers by selecting to only have the advertisements shown to users of certain ages. By hiding these advertisements from older workers, the plaintiffs assert that the defendant companies have engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by denying job opportunities to older workers. The defendants have not yet filed an answer to this complaint. Facebook is not a party to this litigation, but is a party to a separate litigation based on similar allegations related to its advertisement platform.

Although this litigation is in its early stages, it serves as a reminder that employers must keep in mind anti-discrimination laws at every stage of the hiring process. Moving forward, employers should be aware of the risks of excluding any protected classes from their job advertisements on any online platform.

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