I am 18 years old and feel that my age was discriminated against in a recent job interview. Can I file a claim?

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act was passed to protect older workers who might not be receiving all of the employment opportunities being extended to younger workers. However, should you sincerely believe that some other type of discrimination was involved (like race, religion, disability or national origin), you might still be able to file a valid EEOC claim. Contact a local attorney to see if he or she believes your claim might present some strong, valid issues. Since you are very young, you may have difficulty proving your case because all employers are quick to claim younger applicants just didn’t have enough job experience to fully compete with the older candidates. Ask around and see if you can find out if any Native Americans have ever been hired by the church.