Today, three Chairmen – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced landmark legislation that restores vital civil rights protections for older workers in the face of the Supreme Court’s decision in Gross v. FBL Financial.
In Gross, the Supreme Court rewrote civil rights laws, overturning well-established precedent and making it harder for workers facing age discrimination to enforce their rights. The Court ruled that it is no longer enough for a victim of discrimination to prove that age was a motivating factor in an adverse employment decision. An employee must now prove that it was the decisive factor. The Court’s holding specifically means that victims of age discrimination face a higher burden than those alleging race, sex, national origin or religious discrimination. And, the opinion has already had reverberations in a wide range of civil rights cases beyond age discrimination.
“The same conservative Supreme Court justices responsible for the backward ruling against Lilly Ledbetter have now thrown another legal barrier in front of hard-working older Americans,” said Rep. Miller. “Workplace discrimination based on age is just as wrong as discrimination based on any other irrelevant factor -- and it should be treated as such in the court of law. The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act will ensure that all workers are treated fairly and not subject to decisions based on an employer’s prejudice, especially in this difficult economy.”
Read more about H.R. 3721 - Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act
In Gross, the Supreme Court rewrote civil rights laws, overturning well-established precedent and making it harder for workers facing age discrimination to enforce their rights. The Court ruled that it is no longer enough for a victim of discrimination to prove that age was a motivating factor in an adverse employment decision. An employee must now prove that it was the decisive factor. The Court’s holding specifically means that victims of age discrimination face a higher burden than those alleging race, sex, national origin or religious discrimination. And, the opinion has already had reverberations in a wide range of civil rights cases beyond age discrimination.
“The same conservative Supreme Court justices responsible for the backward ruling against Lilly Ledbetter have now thrown another legal barrier in front of hard-working older Americans,” said Rep. Miller. “Workplace discrimination based on age is just as wrong as discrimination based on any other irrelevant factor -- and it should be treated as such in the court of law. The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act will ensure that all workers are treated fairly and not subject to decisions based on an employer’s prejudice, especially in this difficult economy.”
Read more about H.R. 3721 - Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act
Continue reading Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act Press Conference.