Facebook ads that let employers target
younger workers focus of U.S. lawsuit
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[December 21, 2017]
By Sharon Bernstein
(Reuters) - Several U.S. employers engaged
in age discrimination by placing recruitment ads on Facebook targeting
younger workers, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by a
communications industry labor union.
Companies including T-Mobile US Inc <TMUS.O>, Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>
and Cox Communications Inc imposed age limits on who could see
recruitment ads, limiting some only to people younger than 38, according
to the lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco by the
Communications Workers of America.
"This pattern or practice of discrimination denies job opportunities to
individuals who are searching for and interested in jobs, reduces the
number of older workers who apply for jobs with the offending employers
and employment agencies, and depresses the number of older workers who
are hired," the complaint reads.
The lawsuit is the latest example of criticism leveled at Facebook for
so-called micro-targeting, a process that has allowed advertisers to
choose who sees their ads based on age, interests, race and even such
characteristics as whether they dislike people based on race or
religion.
Last month, the company said it was temporarily disabling the ability of
advertisers to exclude racial groups from the intended audience of ads,
and promised to "do better" at policing discriminatory practices.
Facebook, which is not named as a defendant but is accused in the
lawsuit of engaging in the practice in its own recruitment efforts, said
in a statement on its website that it does not engage in age
discrimination.
T-Mobile and Cox said they do not comment on litigation. Amazon said it
has corrected some ads.
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A giant logo is seen at Facebook's headquarters in London, Britain,
December 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville
"We recently audited our recruiting ads on Facebook and discovered
some had targeting that was inconsistent with our approach of
searching for any candidate over the age of 18," Amazon said.
The complaint included images of employment recruitment ads that
when clicked upon by a user, bring up a screen specifying the age
group to which the ad was targeted.
"You're seeing this ad because Amazon Fulfillment Jobs wants to
reach people ages 18 to 54 who live or were recently near Silver
Spring Maryland," one reads.
Another lists T-Mobile's desire to reach people who are interested
in customer service, adding, "There may be other reasons you're
seeing this ad, including that T-Mobile Careers wants to reach
people ages 18 to 38."
Peter Romer-Friedman, a lead attorney on the case, said companies
rely heavily on social media for job recruitment, so the targeting
harms older job-seekers. Lawyers will seek class action status for
the case and plan to add defendants, he said.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Additional
reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)
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