John:
"I suspect that a lot of so-called "age discrimination" is, in fact, discriminating on people's looks - they want a pretty or handsome face behind the desk, rather than a "wrinkly".


Well, now that I have finished chatting with the Labor Lawyer, I can openly discuss my case, which fits with the above paragraph. My former employer's boss was not happy with the job the young gal was doing as Head of Human Resources in our facility. This gal also has a BSW (Bachelor's in Social Work, no experience in SW) and is 24 years of age and has many healthy years ahead of her. They figured they would be better off with her, than a 57 year old woman with a history of a heart problem, even though I did a top notch job. 17 years in the field with no government deficiencies. So, instead of letting her go, they simply ushered me out and placed her in my position. As Pennsylvania is an "At Will" State,(means they can hire you at will, and fire you at will, no explanations necessary), so they found a way to get around the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act), that I had requested to take 5 working days off to help my ill elderly mother move into an Assisted Living Facility. Even the Labor Lawyer said what they did sucked, but I don't have a case because I was not a "contracted" employee, and that they covered their rears on every page of the employee handbook.

Are we losing out on the years of experience that that so-called "wrinklies" have at the expense of having a good-looking, but relatively inexperienced workforce in some areas?

Yes, I think it is quite unfortunate that experienced people, who are still willing to work, are cast aside for the younger generation. On the other hand, the youngsters need to start somewhere, and companies are willing to pay them less to do the same job as the more experienced person.