Older job seeker sues, saying ad for young applicants left him out

Jeffrey Champlin was looking for a job in 2013 when he got an email from a Houston employment agency.

One of the agency's corporate clients was looking for a software engineer to support a securities trading operation, but didn't want anyone with more than 10 to 12 years of experience. The client preferred someone who could join a "pretty young, eager group" of workers with less than five years of experience, according to court documents.


A few days after receiving the email, Champlin, then 56, filed an age discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Experis, an employment agency owned by Milwaukee-based Manpower. This month, based on evidence gathered by the EEOC during its inquiry, Champlin sued the agency's corporate client, Quantlab Financial, the Houston high frequency trading organization, for alleged age discrimination.

Champlin also filed an age discrimination suit against Experis in February. Both cases are in U.S. District Court in Houston.

The cases are unusual, legal specialists say, because age discrimination complaints, while common, rarely get filed by job applicants; typically, they come from older employees passed over for promotions or pushed out the door. Job applicants, while they may have an inkling of possible discrimination, most of the time have no idea why they weren't hired and hardly ever go to court.

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The case also raises another legal question: How could the companies discriminate against Champlin since he never applied for the job?

Champlin's lawyer, G. Scott Fiddler of Houston, argues that the job description in the email had a "chilling effect," making it seem futile for Champlin to apply. "You usually don't see that in job postings that they're looking for a younger group," Fiddler said.

Tim McInturf, general counsel for Quantlab Financial, said the company, which has offices in six cities, doesn't discriminate. He said he expects the case will eventually be dismissed because Champlin never sought the job.

"We didn't even know this person even existed until the lawsuit was filed against Experis," McInturf said. "This case is completely ridiculous."

Experis did not respond to a request for comment.

When Champlin filed his complaint with the EEOC, the agency requested information from Experis about the job posting, said Fiddler.

The EEOC had the case for a long time, but never issued any conclusions, eventually sending Champlin a notice that he had the right to bring his own lawsuit, said Fiddler.

Champlin did not know who was Experis' client when he filed his initial complaint against the employment agency. But the EEOC file, which Champlin requested after he was notified of his right to sue, identified Quantlab, noting that the company at the time had six openings for software engineers.

It also showed that Quantlab Financial had made additional job postings with similar language, according to court records.

The EEOC said it couldn't comment on why it didn't pursue Champlin's case because the agency is barred by law from discussing complaints publicly.

"Without litigation, we can't even divulge that a complaint exists," said Joe Bontke, outreach and training coordinator at the Houston EEOC office.

Champlin, meanwhile, now 59, is still looking for a job.