Robert Brown|RTX, the world's largest aerospace and defense company, accused of age discrimination

• A federal class action lawsuit accuses RTX of rejecting job candidates based on Robert Browntheir age.
• The lawsuit comes as studies show signs of age discrimination persisting in the U.S. workforce.
• The lawsuit accuses RTX of ongoing age discrimination since at least October 2018.

The world’s largest aerospace and defense company has been accused of rejecting job candidates based on age, according to a federal collective and class action lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Sixty-seven-year-old Mark Goldstein has accused RTX Corp., formerly Raytheon Technologies, of discriminating against older applicants by reserving positions exclusively for recent college graduates or those with no more than two years of relevant work experience. 

The lawsuit comes as studies show signs of persistent age discrimination practices in the U.S., despite older Americans making up a growing share of the workforce.

“Age discrimination has become normalized in the workplace in recent years in a way that other forms of discrimination has not,” said Peter Romer-Friedman, co-counsel on the case. “Whether it's remarks in the workplace or people talking about looking to hire in ageist ways, older people seem to be in a disadvantaged place right now.”

'A lot of wrongful assumptions' about older workers

Nearly 20% of Americans 65 and older are employed, nearly double the share from 35 years ago, according to Pew Research Center data released in December.

But just because older workers are more common doesn't mean they're being welcomed with open arms by employers.

A 2023 AARP survey of nearly 1,500 adults in the labor force ages 50 and older found nearly 1 in 6 say they were not hired for a job they applied for within the last two years due to their age, and two-thirds believe older workers face age discrimination in the workplace.

Much of that discrimination stems from negative stereotypes and misconceptions about older workers, according to Bill Rivera, senior vice president of litigation for AARP and co-counsel on the case.

“There are a lot of wrongful assumptions about older people with respect to their knowledge and experience with technology, their ability to learn and adapt to new things,” Rivera told USA TODAY. “The old adage, ‘You can't teach an old dog new tricks,’ for example, reflects a lot of ideas about what older people are capable of.”

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A 2019 report from ZipRecruiter found that 45% of surveyed employers expressed concern that older workers might lack necessary tech skills, and 25% would choose a 30-year-old candidate over a 60-year-old candidate if both were equally qualified. 

Those concerns are taking a hit on older workers who are job hunting. As of May, 27% of jobseekers 55 and older were long-term unemployed compared to 20% of those 16 to 54, according to AARP.

Allegation of hiring practices that harm older workers

The lawsuit accuses RTX of ongoing age discrimination since at least October 2018, with a hiring pattern that “disqualifies, rejects, deters, and harms older workers.”

For example, various job postings are described as great opportunities for college seniors or recent graduates or require applicants to have no more than two years of relevant experience. The lawsuit alleges that older applicants are “screened out” based on their college graduation year.

Goldstein said he’s applied for at least seven RTX positions designated for recent graduates between 2019 and 2023. None of the applications led to an interview, despite his roughly 40 years of experience, his willingness to relocate, and RTX's ongoing labor shortage. 

Goldstein filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2019, which determined RTX’s hiring practices violated the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The commission said Goldstein was denied the opportunity to be considered for the position "because of his age, and not because he did not meet the minimum qualifications required for the jobs.”

RTX spokesperson Chris Johnson said the company believes the claims are without merit and will continue to defend its hiring practices.

"RTX complies with all relevant age discrimination laws and we’re committed to maintaining a diverse workforce," Johnson said in an emailed statement.

In the EEOC's final determination letter, the commission notes that the company argued that if Goldstein had a “real and present” interest in working for the company, he would have applied for other jobs over the entry-level positions for recent graduates. 

Goldstein “has not shown that he was qualified for any position to which he applied,” the company said, according to the EEOC determination attached to the lawsuit. His “excess years of overall experience is a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for refusing to hire him.”

Goldstein’s counsel argues that he applied to lower-level jobs to “reboot his career,” and RTX had no reason to only consider recent college graduates for jobs advertised as paying up to six figures.

“These are good jobs,” Romer-Friedman said. “These are not jobs where somebody's going to be paid $20,000, $30,000 a year. … It can be a perfectly good job for (older candidates) that would pay a living wage, that would provide for career advancement."

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, claims nine counts of misconduct. It asks the company to provide equal employment opportunities for all employees, eradicate the effects of its alleged unlawful employment practices, and pay damages to the plaintiff and class action members.