Supreme Court Rules for Employers in Age-Discrimination Case
Posted by Molly DiBianca On June 21, 2009 In: Age (ADEA) , Purely Legal , U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Gross v. FBL Financial Services last week, holding that a plaintiff bringing an age-discrimination claim must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that age was the “but-for” cause of the challenged adverse employment action. The burden of persuasion does not shift to the employer to show that it would have taken the action regardless of age, even when a plaintiff has produced some evidence that age was one motivating factor in that decision.
Title VII permits plaintiffs to prove that the employer had several motive. So long as the plaintiff shows that at least one of the motives was discriminatory, he has met his burden to show cause. The Supreme Court's ruing in Gross, on the other hand, makes clear that the ADEA does not provide for a mixed-motive analysis.
The decision will have positive implications for employers who find themselves defending against an age-discrimination claim.
Comments
Posted by: Philip Miles | June 22, 2009 7:27 PM
Hot on the heels of the ADAAA and the Ledbetter Act, I'm pretty confident Congress will resurrect the ADEA mixed-motive case by legislation. Especially given the number of older workers and the huge number of "adverse employment actions" happening in the current recession.
Posted by: California Attorney | June 25, 2009 6:14 AM
Thanks for the post & it was a great update. But it's just a miracle whether such informations gets passed amongst the public.
Rose.
Posted by: Connecticut Paralegal | July 24, 2009 1:14 PM
Where does this decision leave ADEA anti-retaliation claims? It is not addressed in the Gross decision leaving all current ADEA cases that also carry an ADEA retaliation claim left to muddle through with no clear direction.
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