Age Discrimination in Employment Act

“ As construed above, § 4 (f) (2) is not so much a defense to a charge of age discrimination as it is a description of the type of employer conduct that is prohibited in the employee benefit plan context. By requiring a showing of actual intent to discriminate in those aspects of the employment relationship protected by the provisions of the ADEA, § 4 (f) (2) redefines the elements of a plaintiff's prima facie case instead of establishing a defense to what otherwise would be a violation of the Act. ”

“ And a majority of States forbid age discrimination by political subdivisions of any size; some 15 of these States subject private sector employers to age discrimination proscriptions only if they employ at least a threshold number of workers. ”

“ Not only are the elderly denied important benefits when they are terminated on the basis of age, but the classification of older workers is itself one that merits judicial attention. Whether older workers constitute a "suspect" class or not, it cannot be disputed that they constitute a class subject to repeated and arbitrary discrimination in employment. ”

“ This reading has the perverse consequence of denying the § 4 (f) (2) exemption only to subtle acts of discrimination effected through a stratagem or other artifice of discrimination, while leaving it intact for those age-based distinctions like PERS which, though arbitrary, are so brazenly discriminatory in disentitling older workers to benefits that they cannot possibly warrant the "subterfuge" characterization. ”

“ We speak, after all, only of agency determinations not otherwise subjected to judicial review; our reading of the statute will provide no more than a second chance to prove the claim, and even then state administrative findings may be entered into evidence at trial. See Chandler, supra, 425 U.S., at 863, n. 39, 96 S.Ct., at 1961, n. 39 (1976) . It also may well be that Congress thought state agency consideration generally inadequate to insure full protection against age discrimination in employment. ”

“ The phrase "compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment" in § 4 (a) (1) can be read to encompass employee benefit plans of the type covered by § 4 (f) (2) . Such an interpretation, however, would in effect render the § 4 (f) (2) exemption nugatory with respect to post-Act plans. Any benefit plan that by its terms mandated discrimination against older workers would also be facially irreconcilable with the prohibitions in § 4 (a) (1) and, therefore, with the purposes of the Act itself. ”

“ This silence is hardly surprising, given that an unqualified exemption contravenes Congress' overarching goal in passing the ADEA of protecting older workers against arbitrary discrimination. The business purpose test, on the other hand, advances this goal, playing the hardly radical role of ensuring that, where no justification exists for disparate age-based treatment, older workers are not saddled with burdens that should be shared by all workers or by their employer. ”

“ We must eliminate by law unjust discrimination in employment because of age.
We should embark upon a major effort to provide self-help assistance to the forgotten in our midst--the American Indians and the migratory farm workers. ”

“ We reach the same result here, for the Age Act, too, carries an implication that the federal courts should recognize no preclusion by state administrative findings with respect to age-discrimination claims. While the statute contains no express delimitation of the respect owed to state agency findings, its filing requirements make clear that collateral estoppel is not to apply. Section 14 (b) requires that where a State has its own age-discrimination law, a federal Age Act complainant must first pursue his claim with the responsible state authorities before filing in federal court. ”

“ On the contrary, Congress has now required that the posture and condition of the job-seeker be taken into account. It has-to resort again to the fable-provided that the vessel in which the milk is proffered be one all seekers can use. The Act proscribes not only overt discrimination but also practices that are fair in form, but discriminatory in operation. The touchstone is business necessity. If an employment practice which operates to exclude Negroes cannot be shown to be related to job performance, the practice is prohibited. ”

“ I've launched this national initiative on race to help us recognize our common interests and to bridge the opportunity gaps that are keeping us from becoming one America. Let us begin by recognizing what we still must overcome.
Discrimination against any American is un-American. We must vigorously enforce the laws that make it illegal. I ask your help to end the backlog at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Sixty thousand of our fellow citizens are waiting in line for justice, and we should act now to end their wait. ”

“ With that amendment, "there is no doubt what the intent of Congress was: to extend the application of the ADEA to the States." EEOC v. Wyoming, 460 U.S. 226, 244, n. 18, 103 S.Ct. 1054, 1064, n. 18, 75 L.Ed.2d 18 (1983) .
The dispute in this case therefore is not whether Congress has outlawed age discrimination by the States. It clearly has. The only question is whether petitioners fall within the definition of "employee" in the Act, § 630 (f) , which contains exceptions for elected officials and certain appointed officials. ”

“ Many such impairments are not in fact disabling but are believed to be so, and the people having them may be denied employment or otherwise shunned as a consequence. Such people, objectively capable of performing as well as the unimpaired, are analogous to capable workers discriminated against because of their skin color or some other vocationally irrelevant characteristic. (The Act is not limited to employment discrimination, but such discrimination, addressed by Subchapter I of the Act, is the only kind at issue in this case and we limit our discussion accordingly.) ”

“ Moreover, the elderly are not isolated in society, and discrimination against them is not pervasive but is centered primarily in employment. The advantage of a flexible equal protection standard, however, is that it can readily accommodate such variables. The elderly are undoubtedly discriminated against, and when legislation denies them an important benefit--employment--I conclude that to sustain the legislation appellants must show a reasonably substantial interest and a scheme reasonably closely tailored to achieving that interest. ”

“ Its goals were far more comprehensive. As Senator Javits put it, "the age discrimination law is not the proper place to fight" the battle of ensuring "adequate pension benefits for olde workers," and § 4 (f) (2) was therefore intended to be "a fairly broad exemption . . . for bona fide retirement and seniority systems." Ibid. Later, referring to the effect of his proposed amendment on the provisions of employee benefit plans, Senator Javits stated that " [i] f the older worker chooses to waive all of those provisions, then the older worker can obtain the benefits of this act. ”

“ We will work hard to prevent and stop gender, age, and education discrimination in the workplace in order to create a fair employment environment. We will strengthen oversight and enforcement of labor protection laws and focus on addressing acute issues that are infringing upon employees' lawful rights and interests. ”

“ Combat Employment Discrimination: Obama and Biden will work to overturn the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination. They will also pass the Fair Pay Act, to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work, and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. ”

“ We have declined, however, to extend heightened review to differential treatment based on age:
"While the treatment of the aged in this Nation has not been wholly free of discrimination, such persons, unlike, say, those who have been discriminated against on the basis of race or national origin, have not experienced a 'history of purposeful unequal treatment' or been subjected to unique disabilities on the basis of stereotyped characteristics not truly indicative of their abilities." ”

“ The opinion concluded, however, that the classification could be reasonable in the context of a labor market in which 'the skills of manual laborers are in short supply,' because in such a market, 'as a means of utilizing limited state funds in an effort to channel persons into those employment positions for which the society has great need, the statutory discrimination between college students and post-high school vocational trainees is not purely arbitrary or invidious, but rather, a rational approach designed to correct a perceived problem.' 314 F.Supp., at 1091. ”

“ The principles invoked in those cases are, of course, equally applicable to both aspects of employer discrimination, but most of the issues of statutory construction raised here have not previously been considered by this Court.
In past cases we have been called upon to clarify the terms 'discrimination' and 'membership in any labor organization'. Discrimination is not contested in these cases: involuntary reduction of seniority, refusal to hire for an available job, and disparate wage treatment are clearly discriminatory. ”

“ Strong enforcement of equal employment laws also plays a critical role in resolving unfair pay. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces laws that make it illegal to discriminate in wages, or to limit or segregate job applicants or employees in any way that would deprive them of opportunities because of sex, race, color, religion, age, national origin, or disability. ”

“ Leaders of business and industry, veterans service organizations, and labor, as well as community leaders from all walks of life, have worked together to implement the Americans with Disabilities Act, which bans discrimination in recruitment, interviewing, hiring, and advancement. ”

“ As Justice O'Connor characterized the analogous employment situation, "public employers are trapped between the competing hazards of liability to minorities if affirmative action is not taken to remedy apparent employment discrimination and liability to nonminorities if affirmative action is taken." ”

“ At eighteen or nineteen the body is usually mature, while twenty-one is the legal limit of maturity. If this standard were adopted, the state would forbid work until physical maturity, eighteen or nineteen, and protect the worker until legal manhood, twenty-one. The age of twenty-one is at best an arbitrary one, but its adoption as the upper limit of child labor legislation would have the advantage of making coincident the age of legal majority and the age of legislative protection. ”

“ No covered entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of such individual in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. ”

“ The unfair labor practice is for an employer to encourage or discourage membership by means of discrimination. Thus this section does not outlaw all encouragement or discouragement of membership in labor organizations; only such as is accomplished by discrimination is prohibited. Nor does this section outlaw discrimination in employment as such; only such discrimination as encourages or discourages membership in a labor organization is proscribed. ”