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AARP Exec. VP Nancy LeaMond Cites Sen. Harkin, Rep. Miller Companion Bills as “Important First Step” in Remedy to “Misguided” Court Decision

Washington, DC – AARP has joined key congressional leaders to endorse Senate and House legislation introduced Oct. 6 to defend the civil rights of older workers in the workplace. The legislation offers a remedy for the Supreme Court’s age discrimination decision last June in the case of Jack Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc.

AARP endorsed the “Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act” at a Capitol Hill press conference today with chief sponsor of the legislation Chairman Tom Harkin of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee; lead co-sponsor Chairman Patrick Leahy of the Senate Judiciary Committee; and Chairman George Miller of the House Education and Labor Committee. The bill is in response to the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in Gross that older workers bringing employment discrimination claims must meet a higher standard to prove their claims of illegal bias than others who have been subject to unfair discrimination at work, such as discrimination based on race or sex. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) bars discrimination against workers 40 years of age or older.

“AARP commends Chairmen Harkin, Leahy and Miller for their critical work to put an end to age discrimination in the workplace,” AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said today. “Their bill will protect older workers from being relegated to second class status when they try to vindicate their rights under the ADEA. Unless Congress passes this bill, too many older workers who have been victims of arbitrary age discrimination will be denied their day in court.”

The legislation addresses a June court decision that changed proof standards in place for decades, and has left many victims of age bias without a remedy. For instance, workers with valid claims of bias on grounds of age and race, or age and sex, have had to give up their claims of age bias in order to pursue other claims.

The Gross decision came in the midst of difficult economic conditions for older workers facing special obstacles. The unemployment rate for persons aged 55 and over is now well above what is has been for most of the past six decades. According to the most recent statistics, the average duration of unemployment for older workers was more than 12 weeks longer than it was when the recession started in 2007.

At the same time, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has reported a significant uptick in the number of age discrimination complaints. For the 2008 fiscal year, 29 percent more age discrimination charges were filed than in the previous fiscal year.

An AARP survey announced last year found that 60 percent of those surveyed aged 45 to 74 said that they had personally faced or observed age discrimination in the workplace.

“We urge Congress to quickly approve this bill as an important first step in a concerted effort to restore protections under our age discrimination laws, and to correct a misguided court decision that has jeopardized the rights of all older workers to be judged fairly on their abilities, not their age,” LeaMond said.

For more information, please visit www.aarp.org.