The Age Discrimination in Employment Act is much narrower than commonly assumed. It only forbids discrimination against workers age 40 or older. It does not forbid ageism for being too young, nor against a 39-year-old for being too old.
More generally: discrimination in employment is legal by default and excepted only by specific prohibitions, which include race and religion and gender but not much more than that. Here are some attributes that are legally perfectly permissible to discriminate either for or against: smoking, obesity, height, glasses, alcohol use, vegetarianism, sports team favoritism.
https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/adea.cfm
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act is much narrower than commonly assumed. It only forbids discrimination against workers age 40 or older. It does not forbid ageism for being too young, nor against a 39-year-old for being too old.
More generally: discrimination in employment is legal by default and excepted only by specific prohibitions, which include race and religion and gender but not much more than that. Here are some attributes that are legally perfectly permissible to discriminate either for or against: smoking, obesity, height, glasses, alcohol use, vegetarianism, sports team favoritism.