MORRIS, HAYNES & HORNSBY PRESS RELEASE | June 30, 2009

In the midst of the furor over other happenings at the United States Supreme Court, a recent United States Supreme Court decision that will affect over 44% of the United States population by severely curtailing the ability of workers aged 40 and above to prove age discrimination at their employment has been largely ignored. In the case of Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., 126 S. Ct. 2343 (June 18, 2009), the Court held, by a 5-4 vote, that in order to prove that a person was discriminated against under the ADEA (the Age Discrimination in Employment Act), that person must prove that his firing or demotion occurred only because of his age. Prior to this decision, following well-established United States Supreme Court precedent in its interpretation of Title VII discrimination actions based upon race, sex or religion, it was necessary only to show that a person’s age was one consideration among others for his firing or demotion. In other words, under the Gross decision, it is not enough to show that an employee’s age was one of several factors used to fire or demote him, as was true under existing precedent; an employee must show that but for his age, he would not have been fired or demoted.

US Supreme Court Decision on Age Discrimination Will Adversely Affect Aging Workers in Today's Economy