Saying ‘OK, Boomer’ in the Workplace Can Get You Fired
'OK, Boomer' is making the rounds on social media, but if you bring it to the workplace, it could get you fired.
If your office is anything like ours, you've got folks across the age spectrum - millennials, Gen-Xers, and Baby Boomers. You may have seen the phrase "OK, Boomer" making it's way across social media. It's intended as a dismissive retort to Baby Boomers who are sometimes critical of millennials and their ideologies.
According to Inc., you should be careful about using the phrase towards anyone over 40 in your workplace, lest you create a "hostile work environment."
"The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) prohibits discrimination against people 40 and over. Federal law doesn't protect the under-40 crowd, although your state law might," says Suzanne Lucas, HR expert.
Lucas goes on to say she would counsel an employer to take the insult as seriously as the employer would take any other type of discrimination.
That seems a little extreme to us, but the law is the law - and under that law, 'OK, Boomer' is age discrimination. Maybe we should all just be a little nicer to each other.