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Age Discrimination in Employment Act

American society has grown older as the baby boom generation approaches retirement and health care improves. The percentage of the population in the 40 to 64 age range increased from 24.8% in 1980 to 32.3% in 2005. Recognizing that Americans would continue to face age bias in the workplace, Congress enacted the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 as part of its broad attack on employment discrimination in the 1960s. An amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the ADEA adopted antidiscrimination provisions that were substantively almost identical to those of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the interim, courts have dealt with many ADEA issues, ranging from hiring and dismissal to salaries and early retirement incentive plans.

General Provisions

The ADEA is the primary federal statutory remedy for victims of age discrimination in the workplace. It prohibits employers with 20 or more employees from discriminating against employees and prospective employees (applicants) because of their age in hiring, transfer, promotion demotion, and dismissal as well as in conditions of employment, including compensation and benefit plans. The ADEA also makes it illegal for employers to retaliate against those who oppose a practice made unlawful under the statute or who participate in an ADEA investigation, proceeding, or litigation. Exceptions to the ADEA's antidiscrimination provisions include bona fide employee benefit plans, such as voluntary early retirement incentive options, and situations where age is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission administratively enforces the ADEA, which includes notice requirements before a plaintiff can file suit. Courts are authorized to award equitable relief to prevailing plaintiffs, such as reinstatement, back pay, damages, and attorney's fees.

Originally, the ADEA covered the ages of 40 to 65, later extended to 70; but 1986 amendments removed the upper age limit for all but a few categories that are rarely applicable in the education setting. Initially the ADEA did not apply to public school districts, colleges, and universities. In 1974 Congress amended the act to cover state and local governments (political subdivisions), and the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of this extension in the face of a Tenth Amendment immunity challenge in EEOC v. Wyoming (1983).

Application of the Law

Plaintiffs can present either direct or indirect evidence of unlawful age discrimination. In the absence of direct evidence, courts apply a variant of Title VH's McDonnell Douglas-Burdine allocation of evidence and shifting burdens of proof to ADEA litigation. Plaintiffs must first establish a prima facie case by establishing that they are members of the protected class (at least 40 years of age); were either qualified for the jobs (for which they were not hired) or met the employer's reasonable job expectations (in cases of dismissal, transfer, or demotion); suffered adverse employment actions; and were replaced by, or treated less favorably than, someone significantly younger, defined by most courts as approximately 10 or more years younger than the plaintiff. Once plaintiffs present prima facie cases, the burden shifts back to employers to produce legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for their adverse employment actions. At the final stage, plaintiffs have the opportunity to prove that their employers' legitimate reason was not true but was rather a pretext for age-based discrimination.

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