A 54 year- old employee is suing Google claiming he was fired because of his age.  Google had dismissed him earlier stating he was “not a good cultural fit.”

This case is disturbing from several angles.  The first, of course, is that someone can be fired over a decade before retirement because they are considered too old for the position.  54 is not ancient, when people are now  living well beyond their eighties.

“Not being a good cultural fit” is also a concern because that is a broad statement by Google and could, frankly, mean almost anything. 

Google is a young firm run by young people.  It is a strange place that has been phenomenally successful.  This blog has spent a lot of time planning to please the giant search engine.  If you play the game right, you get the traffic.  If you don’t, you’ll languish without an audience.  That’s life on the Internet in 2010.  Okay, we accept that.

However, if another 54 year-old could give some advice to these youngsters, here is what I would tell them.

You’ll be in your fifties before you can turn around.  It will hit you fast.  You’ll be in shock the first time a grocery clerk tells you to “come back Wednesday for Senior Day.” Gray is  coming.  Get ready.

Next, who says a 54 year-old is all washed up?  Many people in their fifties, who have been snubbed and thrown out of their jobs, are now on the Internet making more money than they did before in their old jobs.  That’s also consolation for anyone finding themselves out of a corporate world livelihood.  There are other solutions for earning money and the best revenge is success.

Finally, have we become a nation that can throw people away because of their age?  This is particularly scary as we face the rationing of health care.  This issue goes much farther than a Google spat at the office.  A nation will be partially  judged morally  on how it views its elderly.  People are not dispensable. 

When you read the article about the firing, pay attention to the readers’ comments.  That’s where the real golden nuggets of information are because it shows how people really think.   

Read Age Biased Lawsuit Against Google 

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