Discrimination

Analyzing whether discrimination has occurred would look at the same criteria as the other laws:

1. Someone is treated differently, in a way that interfered with his or her ability to participate in a program;
2. That different treatment was based on age; and
3. There was no "legitimate, non-discriminatory, non-pretextual basis for the different treatment."

There are a few exceptions to the age discrimination laws. Two that may be relevant at Tacoma Community College are:

• Special programs for children or the elderly can use age to determine eligibility for the program.
• Age can be used to determine eligibility if it is a legal requirement to participate in activities. A good example of this is a Driver Education class, where state law mandates that students must be old enough to get a license.