Those who believe they have faced age discrimination in the workplace will find that the Age Discrimination Act 1967 will help. This law was enacted to protect workers over 40 from being discriminated against due to hiring, pensions, firing, promotions, benefits, and more. While this federal law only applies to companies with 20 or more employees, there are various state laws that apply to businesses with one employee or more. Filing a claim with a state or federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will result in an attempt at mediation. Over 80% of cases are solved this way. If that does not work, the employee will be referred to a lawyer. While the initial mediation may result in reinstatement, promotion, back pay, and even damages, civil court cases may result in awards of up to hundreds of thousands of dollars according to the age discrimination act, 1967.