June 19, 2009

Comment by Heather Bussing on June 20, 2009 at 7:59pm

Thanks Ami! Age discrimination is going to get harder and harder to prove as a majority of the workforce qualifies as a "protected class" because the boomers have been and still are working instead of having babies and retirees are headed back to work.

I also expect that actual cases of age discrimination are on the increase as health insurance premiums rise and wage pressure increases in a down economy. Healthy young workers are cheaper-- assuming you can get them to show up.

Comment by Amitai Givertz on June 20, 2009 at 8:42pm

I agree that age discrimination will be harder to prove but for a different reason.

In a word: Botox. Sad, but true.

Comment by KarenM on June 22, 2009 at 1:08pm

Don't think this will last.. but Justice Paul Stevens says it best

Justice John Paul Stevens said the court and the Congress have previously rejected Thomas's 'but-for' standard.

"Given this unambiguous history, it is particularly inappropriate for the court, on its own initiative, to adopt an interpretation of the causation requirement in the ADEA that differs from the established reading of Title VII," Stevens said. "I disagree not only with the court's interpretation of the statute, but also with its decision to engage in unnecessary lawmaking."

Comment by Heather Bussing on June 23, 2009 at 10:06pm

Loved the Botox article. How do you even file an age discrimination lawsuit if you have had plastic surgery or other procedures to make you look younger and no one knows that you are over 40? Hmmm. How do you get a resume with 25 years experience if you look 35? Do you leave off the information about when you graduated from college to conceal your true age?

I can see the case now. The employer finds out the true age and fires the employee not because they are really over 40, but because they lied-- a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for termination.

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