On June 23, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill—the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA)—that would make it easier for people to win claims of age discrimination by easing the standards of proof. If also passed by the Senate and signed into law, the measure would undo a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision that made age-discrimination claims more difficult to prove.
In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, that plaintiffs must show that age was the determinative, or “but for,” reason for an adverse employment action. The “but for” standard differs from Title VII’s “motivating factor” test which makes it illegal for an employer to take an employee’s inclusion in a protected class into consideration when making decisions affecting an employee’s terms and conditions of employment. Under the “but for” standard, older employees’ discrimination claims could be defeated if the employer could demonstrate that other factors such as compensation played a role in their decision to terminate an employee.
This article is for information purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice.