As an older worker in Connecticut, what's it like trying to find a new job? Here's what we learned.

[George II]

23. When I was 40 years old I moved up to Connecticut for a new job. I sold my (cheap) condominium....

...and bought a (cheap) condominium in CT. Five years later, at 45, I was laid off because my job had been "eliminated".

What they didn't say was that the job of a woman who was on maternity leave had been eliminated, not mine, so they had to find a position for her.

I left on a Friday. On Monday morning she returned from maternity leave and was given my desk and my job title! I was 45, she was early 30s.

Thankfully CT has (or had, not sure anymore) one of the best state "EEOC" (they call it Commission on Human Rights and Opportunity), the oldest in the country. I filed a complaint of age and gender discrimination, and after 18 months of hearings, meetings, filings, I strutted in the front door - restored to my original job with a settlement worth about the equivalent of back pay!

About two years later, at 50 years old, they laid me off again, same person made the decision, same excuse, along with 10 others. Instant lawsuit for retaliation this time, and almost two years later another settlement.

I have to say, that was the best thing to happen to me - just weeks later I got a great job that I worked at for the last 16 years before I retired.

So, oldtimers, don't despair and if you do get laid off there could be legal options depending on the actual circumstances.