Supreme Court Backs Workers In Age Discrimination Claims

Here is the Supreme Court Opinion in Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. In a 7 to 1 decision, the Supreme Court, whose ages range fom 53 to 87, made it easier for employees to prove they have suffered discrimination because of their age. The Court held that when older workers are disproportionately affected by an employment decision, the employer bears the burden of explaining why.

          The case involved two dozen workers at an upstate New York federal research laboratory. When the federal government ordered the contractor that runs the lab to reduce its force, the contractor had its managers rate their subordinates on “performance,” “flexibility,” and “critical skills.” The contractor then fired thirty-one employees, all but one over 40, the age at which the age-discrimination law begins to apply. Most of the affected employees joined a suit contending there was no justification for using an evaluation system that had a disparate impact on older workers.

Justice Souter wrote that the ruling might "make it harder and costlier to defend" age discrimination lawsuits, but, with respect to the federal Age Discrimination Act,  "We have to read it the way Congress wrote it."

Alan Milstein