While there are laws in place to protect individuals’ 40-and-over in the workplace, it doesn’t always mean they are upheld.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), there was a steep increase just as recently as 2009 in the number of age-related discrimination claims. In that year, the EEOC noted 22,778 age discrimination claims, close to a 38 percent uptick from only 16,548 three years earlier.

For those that do not know, the Age Discrimination in…