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

Fact or Fiction: A “general release” settles all discrimination claims

July 12, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Welcome back to “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post”. But before I dispense with the brevity, allow me to pat myself on the back as, yesterday, both the ABA Law Journal and the Wall Street Journal recognized one of my recent blog posts.

***A-thank you. Thank you very much. You’re all too kind.***

On the heels of this case from the Second Circuit that I read about yesterday, I figured that today we should discuss releases. Cue the music…

Fact or fiction: Federal law recognizes “reverse age discrimination”

June 14, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Welcome to the inaugural edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post“.

So, I was recently asked whether a younger employee may have a federal age-discrimination claim against his employer if the company treats a similarly-situated older employee better.

The answer is no. In 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court in General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline held that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) does not forbid discriminatory preference for the old over the young.

“Cat’s Paw” doctrine applies to claims of age bias

June 3, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Wednesday night was crazazy, yo!

I had this dream that was I slaloming down a snowy mountain towards a giant fortress under a hail of gunfire. But the next thing I know, I wake up and I’m falling down this elevator shaft. And, just as I’m about to bite it, I find myself in a car submerged underwater, having just taken a 100-foot fall from the bridge above.

And then I’m in my bed.

It’s 3 am and I am dripping sweat. I tap the Joe Beimel bobblehead on my nightstand — I know I shouldn’t have told you about my totem but, damnit, I love my readers.

Just as I’m starting to get my bearings, what hit me next was ten times as powerful as any three-tiered Inception dream and it kept me up for the rest of the night:

Could the United States Supreme Court’s decision in
Staub v. Proctor Hospital, in which the Court affirmed the
theory of subordinate bias — or “cat’s paw” — in an
action under USERRA, equally apply to claims brought
under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)?

But, oh hells-to-the-yeah, the Tenth Circuit, sensing my angst, issued an opinion on Thursday answering all of my questions. So, while I grab my meds, you hit the jump and find out if the cat’s paw doctrine applies to ADEA claims.

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Court dismisses the age bias claims of a pistol-packin’ old cripple

May 26, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

A 51-year-old auto-parts specialist with lupus, fibromyalgia, diabetes and arthritis, claimed that his 29-year-old co-worker called him an “old cripple” and an “old man,” labeled him “too old to be trained,” and threatened to beat him with a baseball bat.

The 51-year-old responded by telling his manager that he would kick the 29-year-old’s ass and then came to work with a handgun in his car.

Wha Wha Whaaaaaat?!?!

Did the older employee overreact? Maybe. But was he the victim of a hostile work environment?

Find out after the jump.

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New Jersey applies Lilly Ledbetter Act to LAD case

November 25, 2010 | by Eric B. Meyer

The New Jersey Supreme Court in