New York Employment Attorneys Blog

A waste management company in Las Vegas has been ordered to pay nearly $3 million dollars in damages following a verdict declaring they had illegally fired employees in violation of the Age Discrimination Employment Act.

According to the EEOC, the company was found liable after firing over 21 employees who were 40 years old or older. These jobs were then given to younger employees who were held to lesser standards than the older workers. The lawsuit also alleged that the company engaged in a campaign to overwork individuals that they did not want working with there, hoping that excess work would cause exhaustion and let their job performance suffer.

The EEOC's settlement on behalf of the employees is a victory for the terminated individuals, as well as for workers across America. This victory comes following the Gross v. FBL Supreme Court decision, which made it increasingly difficult for older employees to bring an age discrimination suit. Hopefully, more employees will understand what age discrimination looks like, and stand up for their rights.

For more information on age discrimination, check out our site here: Age Discrimination.

Late last year, the Supreme Court ruled on the matter of Gross v. FBL, greatly raising the bar for proving that an individual had been the victim of age discrimination. The court deemed that the plaintiff must prove that the adverse employment effect was directly related to ones age, and not other factors, greatly narrowing the ways in which individuals can bring age discrimination suits.

This case has been widely discussed in the legal and employment worlds as they adapt to these changes in law. This, along with the Ledbetter v. Goodyear decision, which had limited plaintiffs claims for discrimination in pay based on sex, marked a Supreme Court that appeared hostile to the rights of working individuals.

Following the Ledbetter decision, Congress acted to help re-enforce the rights of individuals who had been systematically paid less that workers of different gender. And it appears that in light of this recent decision, members of Congress are working on a law that would help strengthen the rights of workers who believe they have been discriminated against based on their age.

This week, Sen. Patrick Lahey and others plan on introducing a new bill that would help work against the decision laid out in Gross v. FBL Financial. This would help to reestablish the rights of older workers who feel that they have been discriminated against in the work place.
We here at The Harman Firm are glad to see our Congress take such action in light of a Supreme Court that has been extremely hostile towards the rights of workers and have undermined the rights that people have fought long and hard to gain. With the current Obama administration, we hope to see more of this type of legislation and an affirmation of the rights of workers everywhere.