Peter Gosselin

Peter Gosselin was a contributing reporter at ProPublica covering aging.

In more than three decades as a journalist, he has covered the U.S. and global economies for, among others, the Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe, focusing on the lived experiences of working people. He is the author of “High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families,” for which he devised new data techniques to show that economic risks were being shifted from the broad shoulders of business and government to the backs of working households.

In addition to reporting, he has been a visiting fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, chief speechwriter to the treasury secretary and an economic adviser to the original Department of Health and Human Services team implementing the Affordable Care Act.

He is a widower with 19-year-old twins, Nora and Jacob, who threaten to follow their father into journalism.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Confirms a Pattern of Age Discrimination at IBM

A sweeping decision by the EEOC could cost the tech giant millions in settlements or make it the target of a federal age-discrimination lawsuit. Its findings echo those of a ProPublica investigation.

IBM Accused of Violating Federal Anti-Age Discrimination Law

A group of ex-employees filed a lawsuit that accuses the tech giant of failing to comply with a law requiring companies to disclose the ages of people over 40 who have been laid off. The suit also alleges that the company has improperly prevented workers from combining to challenge their ousters.

Appeals Court Rules Key Anti-Age Discrimination Protections Don’t Apply to Job Seekers, Only Employees

A federal appeals court in Chicago, mirroring a decision in Atlanta, decided that job applicants are entitled to less protection under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Ex-IBM Executive Says She Was Told Not to Disclose Names of Employees Over Age 50 Who’d Been Laid Off

In an affidavit filed as part of a class-action lawsuit, a former IBM vice president says she was fired for warning superiors that the company was vulnerable to claims of age bias. IBM says it was because of “gross misconduct.”

If You’re Over 50, Chances Are the Decision to Leave a Job Won’t be Yours

A new data analysis by ProPublica and the Urban Institute shows more than half of older U.S. workers are pushed out of longtime jobs before they choose to retire, suffering financial damage that is often irreversible.

How We Measured Involuntary Job Losses Among Older Workers

We mined data from the Health and Retirement Study, as well as information from workers over 50 who volunteered their experiences.

Amid Accusations of Age Bias, IBM Winds Down a Push for Millennial Workers

Several age-discrimination lawsuits and investigations have cited IBM’s Millennial Corps as evidence of the company’s bias toward younger workers. Now, it seems, the company is bringing this effort to an end.

New Allegations Added to Lawsuit on How Facebook’s Targeting Tools Helped Advertisers Exclude Older Workers

A federal suit filed in December claimed older workers missed out on job opportunities because ads on Facebook targeted younger users. Now plaintiffs say Facebook’s tools and algorithm gave employers ways to intensify the effects of such targeting.

Federal Watchdog Launches Investigation of Age Bias at IBM

After a ProPublica story spotlighting IBM’s practices in shedding older workers, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission consolidated age discrimination complaints against the company from around the country.

Eroding Protection Under the Law

Older Americans who face discrimination on the job can’t rely on the courts as much as earlier generations did.

How the Crowd Led Us to Investigate IBM

Our project started with a digital community of ex-employees.

Cutting ‘Old Heads’ at IBM

As it scrambled to compete in the internet world, the once-dominant tech company cut tens of thousands of U.S. workers, hitting its most senior employees hardest and flouting rules against age bias.

Supreme Court Won’t Take Up R.J. Reynolds Age Discrimination Case

The decision in a case involving the nation’s second-largest tobacco company gives employers new ways to shield themselves from charges of bias against older applicants.

Got a Story About Age Discrimination in the Workplace? We Want to Hear From You.

We know American employers don’t always treat older workers fairly. We need your help figuring out what that looks like.

Restaurant Chain Settles Age Bias Case for $12 Million

After a U.S. lawsuit against Texas Roadhouse ended in a mistrial, the restaurant company, without admitting wrongdoing, settled the largest age discrimination case filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in decades.

Is It Age Discrimination If You Don’t Know You’re Being Discriminated Against?

In Villarreal v. R.J. Reynolds, the Supreme Court would have to decide whether the nation’s second-largest tobacco company was within its rights to summarily reject older job applicants. It is the latest in a series of cases that are making it easier for companies to discriminate against older employees.

Federal Court May Decide If Employers Can Reject Older Job Seekers to Protect ‘Image’

A major bias case against the Texas Roadhouse chain stems from an aggressive government strategy that may not survive the Trump administration.

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