Supreme Court Holds Small Public Employers Subject To Age Discrimination Law

Faced with a budget shortfall, Mount Lemmon Fire District, a political subdivision in Arizona, laid off its two oldest full-time firefighters, John Guido (then 46) and Dennis Rankin (then 54). Guido and Rankin sued the District, contending they had been terminated in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). When the…

Officers Entitled To Trial On Whether Changes In Exam Process Were Pretext For Age Discrimination

Greg Peterson and Souphanny Dean are Richfield, Minnesota police officers. In April 2012, Peterson sued the City, claiming that the Department engaged in age discrimination when it removed him from the special investigations unit earlier that year. A trial court ordered judgment for Peterson on September 19, 2013. In the fall of 2013, Peterson, Dean,…

Firefighter Wins Age Discrimination, GINA Claims

David Lee was a firefighter/EMT for the City of Moraine, Ohio Fire Department for nearly 16 years. He was also a member of Moraine Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 2981. The City and Local 2981 had been involved in discussions for years about physical standards for the job. On November 23, 2011, Lee received an…

Age Discrimination Verdict Against City Of Austin Upheld

Prior to 2009, the City of Austin, Texas Public Safety Emergency Management Department was a separate non-civil-service agency encompassing the City’s airport, park, and municipal-court law-enforcement operations. The minimum base salary for Department employees was significantly lower than that of the Austin Police Department, and there was a wider range of compensation packages for Department…

Federal Court: Cleveland’s Mandatory Police and Fire Retirement at 65 is Legal

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) makes it unlawful “for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual…because of such individual’s age.” Simple, straight-forward, easy to read. So when several Cleveland, Ohio police officers forced into retirement at age 65 sued the City…

Legal Alert: Supreme Court Rejects ‘Mixed Motive’ Age Discrimination Claims

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a decision that could have a significant impact on employers defending Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) claims. In Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. (June 18, 2009), a 5-4 decision, the Court held that to win an ADEA claim, the individual claiming discrimination must prove that age was…

Supreme Court Changes Legal Landscape On Scope Of Arbitration

Since the Supreme Court’s 1974 decision in Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., it has been believed that a collective bargaining agreement could not force employees to waive the right to proceed in court in lawsuits under federal statutes. Though the following 35 years of Supreme Court decisions on arbitration increasingly gave broader scope to arbitration clauses,…