Published 7 October 2022 at 15.27
Domestic. A woman in Östergötland who applied for work with a cleaning company was informed by the company after some time that she was not available for an interview because the company wanted younger women. DO has, after investigation, assessed that the company's statement constituted age discrimination, and now requests that the company pay discrimination compensation to the woman.
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The woman, who was 57 years old at the time and lives in Östergötland, had made a request for work as a janitor after seeing an ad on Facebook. The woman then had an ongoing dialogue with a representative of the company via a message chat on Facebook.
The woman had to answer questions about her age and whether she has children, among other things. After about three months, she was informed that she could not be offered an interview because the company was looking for younger women for the work in question.
The company has stated to DO that it has not been a question of discrimination, but that their assessment has been that the job would be too heavy for the woman. However, DO, which has investigated the incident, believes that the refusal is related to the woman's age and that it has therefore been a matter of discrimination.
– In this case, there is a clear connection between the refusal and the woman's age. The refusal is based on a stereotyped notion that people of the woman's age would not have the physical conditions required to perform the work in question, says Karin Ahlstrand Oxhamre, head of DO's process unit, in a press release.
DO now requests that the company pay SEK 50,000 in discrimination compensation to the woman. If the company opposes the DO's request, the DO will submit a lawsuit to the Labor Court.