(MONEY Magazine) – With the ranks of workers ages 50 and up growing by about 1% each year amid massive corporate layoffs, age-bias complaints filed with state and federal regulators have jumped 28% since 1990 to more than 30,000 nationwide last year. Since the job market is likely to remain tight throughout the mid-'90s, here's a primer on how to proceed if your boss starts agitating at your expense to get new blood in the workplace: -- Get the free booklet entitled Age Discrimination on the Job from the American Association of Retired Persons (D12386, P.O. Box 22796, Long Beach, Calif. 90801). Among other helpful facts, the 20-page publication lists the addresses of all 50 field offices of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that handles age-bias complaints. -- Try to resolve specific problems -- such as an undesirable reassignment or a surprisingly negative performance appraisal -- through talks with your supervisor. Keep any age-bias suspicions to yourself at first. ''Some company officials will immediately think 'lawsuit' and cut off discussions unless their lawyer is present,'' warns AARP attorney Cathy Ventrell-Monsees. -- If talking with your boss doesn't accomplish anything, arrange a consultation with an employment lawyer (cost: up to $300). Clients usually pay the lawyer's expenses and perhaps a retainer of $2,000 to $15,000 up front. If you win in court, your employer must pay the lawyer all of his or her fees for representing you. -- If you do decide to fight back, file a charge with your local EEOC office and your state's human relations agency. Be patient if you're gunning for a court battle: It can take three years or more before the case comes to trial. Still, the outcome can be worth the wait. Ask Bob Lucas (above). Repeatedly aced out for promotion by younger applicants at his Georgia school district, Lucas, 53, brought suit in 1990. Two years later, he won not only the $44,000 job he sought but also $25,000 in compensatory damages. ''The superintendent wanted younger men he thought he could mold more easily,'' says Lucas. ''He got me.''