A 69-year-old San Jose man has raised age discrimination concerns with state and federal authorities after a “building attendant” job offer he’d received from Los Gatos-Saratoga Community Education and Recreation (LGS Recreation) was yanked.
On Friday, Paul Taylor—who says he’d made it through two rounds of interviews with the social services agency and received an official contract—filed complaints with both the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and California’s Civil Rights Department.
“In a way I feel violated,” said Taylor, by telephone on Friday morning. “I can’t go back in time and be 43 again.”
Per the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, people 40 and up cannot be treated differently because of their age than others in the workplace—including when it comes to hiring.
Taylor says his interviews with the local nonprofit, which offers fitness classes, seasonal day camps and the 55 Plus program for seniors, went well and he was offered a position on July 16.
“I was formerly hired,” he said. “It was a done deal.”
Taylor says he completed the online onboarding the same day he got his offer letter, then completed the Life Scan identification paperwork and handed over a clean tuberculosis certificate the following next day.
Unlike the City of Scotts Valley, which runs its own recreation programming, the Town of Los Gatos relies on LGS Rec to provide a wide range of activities and wellness supports. The municipality also provides hundreds of thousands of dollars to the group each year in rent subsidies.
The nonprofit’s management seemed to like him, at least at first, says Taylor, who recalls even cracking a joke to play down his age.
“I’m still on the sunny side of 70,” he said he remarked. “I wanted to be transparent, letting them know what they’re getting.”
Taylor argues he’s more than qualified for the role that involves setting up and taking-down rooms for programs and events, opening and closing buildings, assisting rental customers in operating audio-visual equipment, monitoring facility usage for compliance with building rules and rental parameters, and greeting customers, per the job ad.
“I was too young for certain things, now I’m too old,” he said. “It kind of gets on my nerves.”
The posting notes a hire with a high school diploma would make $21.07 an hour (plus an extra $2.90 an hour when alcohol is being served), whereas someone without a high school diploma would make $18.97 an hour.
“This looks like it was a human resources decision,” Taylor said of his job loss. “I don’t have a criminal record.”
Taylor says he wants people to know that age discrimination is a serious societal issue.
“I feel if things get put in newspapers people will just know about it and these entities that do this will stop the practice,” he said. “I have plenty of years left in me.”
But Jia Chen, LGS Rec’s human resources director, denied the agism accusation, stating, the “conditional” job offer was “withdrawn due to prior interactions and conduct at the Adult Recreation Center in Los Gatos, not age.”
“These concerns were not known to the hiring team in Saratoga at the time the conditional offer was extended,” Chen said. “We remain committed to maintaining a respectful environment for staff and community members.”
After receiving this message, the Los Gatan reached out to Taylor to try to understand what on earth Chen could be referring to. He admitted there’d been some friction in his relationship with LGS Rec.
He recalled a day back in 2023 when he went into the Adult Recreation Center in Los Gatos to eat a bag lunch, when he was confronted by a staff member who told him he couldn’t be there as he wasn’t a member.
“I thought she was a little rude,” he said. “At the time she thought I was discourteous.”
Taylor says he sent a letter to the Town of Los Gatos about the incident and was offered a one-year membership with the organization (for 2024).
And in the end, he found he quite liked the staffer he’d initially clashed with.
However, he says he also was reprimanded for putting trash in their dumpster that didn’t come from the Adult Rec Center.
“I see it now. That was an infraction I committed,” he said. “I haven’t done it since.”
He says holding a grudge over something as simple as someone throwing trash into a nonprofit’s dumpster is kind of like someone remaining salty over getting cut off in traffic three years after the incident happened.
“I think it’s kind of nonsensical. But I can’t do anything about it,” he said. “The matter was just over and done with.”
Taylor says he’s already filed an official claim with the State, but is open to mediation with LGS Rec Executive Director Nancy Rollett.
