Imagine this: work colleagues regularly taunt you about your age. They call you names, laugh at how you walk and ignore your input.

On the one hand, you don’t want to complain because you don’t want to play the victim or make things worse. On the other hand, you wake up every morning feeling anxious about going to work. You’ve noticed how exhausted you feel at the end of the day. And you know how deeply this harassment impacts you mentally, emotionally and physically.

Does this behavior sound ridiculous in today’s workplace? Yes, it does. But sadly, it is real.

Last month, a lawsuit against toymaker Mattel revealed some of the most noxious, blatant behavior, including a barrage of ageist taunts, mocking and harassment.

The question is, what do you do about it?

“When someone experiences harassment or discrimination on the basis of their age, speaking up is difficult in

In a twist of irony, older workers with decades of experience and expertise are still finding themselves overlooked and undervalued by recruiters and hiring managers.

According to a study conducted by the University of California, Irvine, workers over 40 are only about half as likely to get a job offer than younger employees — but their age is not the only detrimental factor. Unconscious biases about their experience and the expectations that come with it may disqualify them from the get-go, says Jill Chapman, senior performance consultant at Insperity, an HR administrative services company.

“As a recruiter for most of my career, I hear things like, ‘I need a college grad to do this, or I want somebody with just a couple of years of experience,’” says Chapman. “You’re forgetting about a whole pool of people who would be very good at what you’re looking for.”

Older employees face many hurdles when it comes to the