Age Category Archives — Page 14 of 15 — The Employer Handbook Blog Published by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Employment Lawyer

EEOC clarifies ADEA “reasonable factors other than age” defense

March 30, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for eeoclogo.png Yesterday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its “Final Regulation on Disparate Impact and Reasonable Factors Other than Age” (RFOA) under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA).

Wait, wha, wha, what the heck is an RFOA? (The Cliff Notes versions because, like, you could click on the link above, dudes.)

Can you tell it’s been a long day as I punch out this post? Anyhoo, make with the jump, dawg…

* * *

4 new employment-law bills now pending in Congress

March 19, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

Below are summaries of four pieces of legislation of which employers should take note:

Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act. Senator Tom Harkin (IA-D) introduced this bill last week. It would overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. and lower the burden of proof for employees to prove age discrimination claims.

National Right to Work Act. Senator Jim DeMint (SC-R) has introduced this bill to “preserve and protect the free choice of individual employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, or to refrain from such activities.”

And the most ridiculous lawsuit of 2011 was…

January 13, 2012 | by Eric B. Meyer

According to FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org, the lawsuit that keeps those lawyer jokes flowing is…

Convict sues couple he kidnapped for not helping him evade police. A man who kidnapped a couple at knifepoint while he was running from the police is now suing the victims, claiming that they promised to hide him in exchange for an unspecified amount of money. The plaintiff, currently in jail, is seeking $235,000 for the alleged “breach of contract.”

And from the ridiculous to the sublime just-about-as ridiculous…

Age discrimination: It’s not rocket science.

December 28, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Oh, Meyer, where are you going with this one?

Well, it’s my chance to play a little GnR after the jump while reminding my awesome employer readers about what it takes for an employee to actually prove a claim of age discrimination.

(Hint: It’s not easy)…

* * *

What are the consequences of ignoring a written handbook policy?

December 9, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

What’s the point of having a written handbook policy if you aren’t going to follow it? Better yet, what are the consequences of not following that handbook policy?

(Hint: they’re bad).

Find out why after the jump…

* * *

Will ya just retire already? No, but I’ll sue for age discrimination.

December 8, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Back in August, I blogged about a case where a federal court held that an employer inquiring about an employee’s retirement plans, alone, does not discriminate on the basis of age. But what about relentlessly browbeating a plaintiff into retiring? Could that be age discrimination? What do you think, Brett? Find out after the jump…

* * *

Older employees who share porn at work lose age bias claims

December 5, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Your employees view pornography. Well, some of them do.

I know this may be a shock to some. And if you are one of those people, and you run a business in one of the mid-Atlantic states, give me a call. We should talk sometime. Then, I’ll hit you over the head with a proverbial tack-hammer.

Until then, over the next two days, I’ll address two recent examples of where nekkid pix caused employees to lose lawsuits against their former employers. The first case — an age discrimination matter — follows after the jump

* * *

Employee suing for AGE bias claims judge is too OLD to preside

October 26, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

From the sublime to the ridiculous, the NY Daily News reports here that a 60-year-old musician suing for age discrimination claims that the presiding 88-year-old Manhattan judge is too old to hear the case.

According to the NY Daily News story, the plaintiff, who was representing himself before his case was dismissed in October, slammed the judge, calling him “slow-witted and unable to function.”

In a pleading filed with the court, the plaintiff also wrote that the judge, who has degrees from Harvard and Columbia Law School, “may have been a very learned jurist in his day, [but] should be removed from the bench, both because of his mental and physical limitations [and because he] could barely see unless he put his face almost on top of a document.”

This old mother****** may just have an age discrimination claim

September 13, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

You know what’s not a good business practice for a car dealership? Referring to an older male employee as “old man,” “pops,” and “old mother******” and then steering car sales away from him to younger employees. Age discrimination is serious business, yo.

Details on this gem after the jump…

Inquiring about retirement plans = age discrimination?

August 5, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Let’s say that a company holds a meeting for older employees (all are over 49 years old). And the purpose of the meeting is to discuss the future expectations of the employees in attendance, including retirement options at the company. Then throw in a stray remark from the company, something like, “When people get older, they tend to slow down.”

What if one of the meeting attendees is later laid off? Is that age discrimination?

If the employer has any non-age-related reason for the layoff, then the answer is no, according to