AARP Foundation Legal Advocacy Employment Discrimination
AARP Foundation - Legal Advocacy: Employment Discrimination... What We Do
Read AARP's (PDF), Smith's argument before the court (starts at 31:00) , Court (PDF)
Case Result: The Supreme Court of Texas denied cert, leaving in place a jury verdict in plaintiff’s favor on retaliation claim. Case Name: Pelcha v. MW Bancorp
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 6th Cir. Docket: 20-3511 Filed: 2/11/2021 Read AARP (PDF) Case Issue: In a disparate treatment case, does the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) require a plaintiff to prove that her age was “the” only “but-for” cause (i.e., the “sole cause”) of challenged conduct by the employer adverse to the plaintiff. Case Name: Rabin v. PricewaterhouseCoopers
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. ND Cal. Docket: 16-02276 Order for Final Approval of Settlement: 2/4/2021 Read , ,Order for Final Settlement Approval, , (PDF) - Bloomberg "Daily Labor Report"
Case Issue: Do PwC's hiring and related employment practices have the purpose and effect of disadvantaging and deterring older applicants for entry- and mid-level jobs, in violation of federal and California age bias laws? Case Name: Frappied v. Affinity Gaming Black Hawk Court: U.S. Ct. App. 10th Cir. Docket: 19-1063 Decided: 7/21/2020 Read AARP's (PDF) Case Result: Reversed decision of 10th Circuit dismissing plaintiffs’ ADEA disparate treatment and disparate impact claims and also their Title VII disparate impact claims; affirmed the dismissal of their Title VII disparate treatment claim. Case Name: IMDb.com v. Becerra
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 9th Cir Docket: 18-15469; 18-15463 Decided: 6/19/2020 Read AARP's (PDF), , and (PDF) Case Issue: Do entertainment employment service providers have a constitutional right to publish age information on the Internet when their subscribers object? Case Result: The U.S. Court of Appeal affirmed the district court’s decision that California legislation designed to curb age discrimination in the entertainment industry was unconstitutional and that IMDb.com could continue to publish entertainment workers ages and birth dates on its website. Case Name: Bostock v. Clayton County; Altitude Express v. Zarda; Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC
Court: U.S. Supreme Ct. Docket: 17-1618; 17-1623;18-107 Read (PDF), (PDF) and Decided: 6/15/2020 Case Issue: Does Discrimination against an employee because of sexual orientation constitute prohibited employment discrimination "because of . . . Sex" within the meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. section 2000e-2. Case Result: Court ruled 6-3 that under Title VII, discrimination “because of . . . sex” includes discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and transgender status. I.e., “An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII.” Case Name: Babb v. Wilkie
Court: U.S. Supreme Ct. Docket: 18-882 Read (PDF) and (PDF)
Decided: 4/6/2020 Case Issue: Does the ADEA's federal-sector provision -- which requires that such workplaces be "made free from any discrimination based on age" -- prohibit all federal employer conduct for which age is a consideration, or only such considerations if a federal employee or job applicant can show that they would not have incurred harm to their employment opportunities "but for" such consideration of age? Case Result: Reversed decision of 11th Cir. (affirming district court judgment vs. plaintiff-employee Babb and for defendant-employer United States). Case Name: Harris v. Union Pacific Railroad Court: U.S. Ct. App. 8th Cir. Docket: 19-1514 Decided: 3/24/2020 Read (PDF) and (PDF) Case Issue: May a class action be certified under the Americans with Disabilities Act to challenge a company-wide policy that affects employees in various jobs with various disabilities? Case Result: Class certification vacated and remand for individual proceedings. Case Name: Kwesell v. Yale University
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. Conn. Docket: 3:19-cv-01098 Read: (PDF), , Listen/Read Filed: 7/16/2019 Case Issue: Is a wellness program that fines employees $1,300. per year for refusing to reveal medical and genetic information and submit to medical examinations "voluntary" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). Case Name: Taylor v. Burlington Northern RR Holdings
Court: Supreme Ct. State of Washington Docket: 96335-5 (9th Cir. No. 16-35205) Decided: 7/11/2019 Read AARP's (PDF) and (PDF)
Case Issue: Is obesity an impairment under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), Revised Code of Washington, Section 49.60.040 and, if so, under what circumstances? Answer to certified question: "obesity always qualifies as an impairment under the plain language of [Revised Code of Washington] 49.60.040(7)(c)(i) because it is a 'psysiological disorder, or condition' that affects many . . . body systems." Case Name: Richardson v. Chicago Transit Authority
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 7th Cir. Docket: 17-3508 Read (PDF), and Decided: 6/12/2019 Case Result: The Seventh Circuit ruled that a Chicago bus driver’s “extreme obesity” did not constitute an “impairment” covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) absent proof either that it was caused by a separate, underlying physiological disorder or condition or that, on its own, it constituted a physiological disorder. The Court rejected AARP’s and Richardson’s arguments that the ADA, as amended in 2008, calls for a more lenient analysis of what constitutes an ADA impairment. The Court affirmed a district court’s dismissal of Mr. Richardson’s challenge to his termination. Case Name: Kleber v. CareFusion
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 7th Cir. Docket: 17-1206 Read AARP's (PDF), (PDF) and En banc (PDF) (4/23/2019, PDF) Decided: 1/23/2019 Petition for Cert Filed: 4/23/2019 Cert Denied: 10/7/2019 Result Note: The U.S. Supreme Court denied Kleber's petition for certiorari. As a result, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit's decision that section 4(a)(2) of the Age Discriminaiton in Employment Act (ADEA) does not permit outside job applicants to challenge unreasonable hiring policies and practices under the disparate impact theory is allowed to stand. Case Result: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, sitting en banc, reversed a favorable panel decision and held that the district court properly dismissed a job applicant's disparate impact claim against a potential employer for age discrimination because section 4(a)(2) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), does not apply to outside job applicants. Case Name: Reagan-Diaz v. Sessions
Court: U.S. Ct. App. D.C. Cir Docket: 17-5092 Decided: 1/11/2019 Read AARP's (PDF) Case Result: The D.C. Circuit upheld the district court's decision that Reagan-Diaz's requested accommodation of an initial 2-hour workday was unreasonable and held that she could not perform the essential functions of her job. Case Name: Mt. Lemmon Fire Dist. v. Guido & Rankin
Court: U.S. Supreme Court Docket: 17-587 Decided: 11/6/2018 Read AARP's (PDF) and
Case Result: Unanimous affirmance of ninth circuit decision upholding application of ADEA to state and local government employers regardless of number of employees. Case Name: American Diabetes Ass'n v. U.S. Dept. Army Court: U.S. Ct. App. 9th Cir. Docket: 18-15242 Filed: 6/29/2018 Read (PDF)
Case Issue: Does a large entity engaged in legal advocacy incur an "injury-in-fact"--required by Article III of the U.S. Constitution to establish "organizational standing"--by virtue of a single contact between the organization's legal advocacy staff and parents conplaining about a matter affecting the group's organizational mission? Case Name: Taaffe v. Drake Court: U.S. Dist Ct. SD Ohio Docket: 15-02870 Decided:6/20/2018 Read , (PDF) and
Case Result: Plaintiffs reinstated to prior positions. OSU paid $765,000 and agreed to add "age" to the list of protected categories on job posting sites; hold two trainings regarding age discrimination and HR investigations; adopt a "second look" policy where HR complainants can appeal results of investigation and obtain an unconflicted individual's review; and University-wide review of all discrimination policies and guidelines. Case Name: Epic Systems v. Lewis; NLRB v. Murphy Oil; Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris Court: U.S. Supreme Court Docket: 16-285; 16-300; 16-307 Decided: 5/21/2018 Read AARP's (PDF) Case Result: The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires enforcement of an employer’s requirement that employees resolve legal disputes disputes with the employer in individual arbitration, and neither the FAA’s savings clause nor the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) requires employees to be allowed to resolve such disputes collectively or as a class. Case Name: Williams v. Tarrant County College District (TCCD)
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 5th Cir. Docket: 16-11804 Filed: 4/19/2017 Read AARP's (PDF)
Case Issue: Did Ms. Williams' employer, who conceded she is a person with an ADA "impairment," thereby regard her as having an ADA disability? Case Name: Green v. Dallas County Schools
Court: Supreme Ct. Texas Docket: 16-0214 Filed: 8/3/2016
Read AARP's (PDF)
Case Issue: Are plaintiffs suing under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or under a state law similar to the ADA or following interpretations under the ADA, required to show the underlying cause of their disability in order to demonstrate a covered "disability," and thereby to be entitled to the ADA's (or an equivalent state law's) antidiscrimination protection. Case Name: Raymond v. Spirit AeroSystems
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. Kansas Docket: 16-cv-01282 Filed: 7/11/2016 Read and Case Issue: In conducting a reduction-in-force, did the aerospace company target older workers in the hope of eliminating individuals with costly medical claims from the firm's self-insured medical plan? Cancel You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. The provider’s terms, conditions and policies apply. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits. Your email address is now confirmed. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. You can also by updating your account at anytime. You will be asked to register or log in. Cancel Offer Details Disclosures
Docket Discrimination Barriers to Employment
Case Name: Apache v. Davis Court: Supreme Ct. Tex. Docket: 19-0410 Decided: 6/25/2021Read AARP's (PDF), Smith's argument before the court (starts at 31:00) , Court (PDF)
Case Result: The Supreme Court of Texas denied cert, leaving in place a jury verdict in plaintiff’s favor on retaliation claim. Case Name: Pelcha v. MW Bancorp
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 6th Cir. Docket: 20-3511 Filed: 2/11/2021 Read AARP (PDF) Case Issue: In a disparate treatment case, does the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) require a plaintiff to prove that her age was “the” only “but-for” cause (i.e., the “sole cause”) of challenged conduct by the employer adverse to the plaintiff. Case Name: Rabin v. PricewaterhouseCoopers
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. ND Cal. Docket: 16-02276 Order for Final Approval of Settlement: 2/4/2021 Read , ,Order for Final Settlement Approval, , (PDF) - Bloomberg "Daily Labor Report"
Case Issue: Do PwC's hiring and related employment practices have the purpose and effect of disadvantaging and deterring older applicants for entry- and mid-level jobs, in violation of federal and California age bias laws? Case Name: Frappied v. Affinity Gaming Black Hawk Court: U.S. Ct. App. 10th Cir. Docket: 19-1063 Decided: 7/21/2020 Read AARP's (PDF) Case Result: Reversed decision of 10th Circuit dismissing plaintiffs’ ADEA disparate treatment and disparate impact claims and also their Title VII disparate impact claims; affirmed the dismissal of their Title VII disparate treatment claim. Case Name: IMDb.com v. Becerra
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 9th Cir Docket: 18-15469; 18-15463 Decided: 6/19/2020 Read AARP's (PDF), , and (PDF) Case Issue: Do entertainment employment service providers have a constitutional right to publish age information on the Internet when their subscribers object? Case Result: The U.S. Court of Appeal affirmed the district court’s decision that California legislation designed to curb age discrimination in the entertainment industry was unconstitutional and that IMDb.com could continue to publish entertainment workers ages and birth dates on its website. Case Name: Bostock v. Clayton County; Altitude Express v. Zarda; Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC
Court: U.S. Supreme Ct. Docket: 17-1618; 17-1623;18-107 Read (PDF), (PDF) and Decided: 6/15/2020 Case Issue: Does Discrimination against an employee because of sexual orientation constitute prohibited employment discrimination "because of . . . Sex" within the meaning of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. section 2000e-2. Case Result: Court ruled 6-3 that under Title VII, discrimination “because of . . . sex” includes discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and transgender status. I.e., “An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII.” Case Name: Babb v. Wilkie
Court: U.S. Supreme Ct. Docket: 18-882 Read (PDF) and (PDF)
Decided: 4/6/2020 Case Issue: Does the ADEA's federal-sector provision -- which requires that such workplaces be "made free from any discrimination based on age" -- prohibit all federal employer conduct for which age is a consideration, or only such considerations if a federal employee or job applicant can show that they would not have incurred harm to their employment opportunities "but for" such consideration of age? Case Result: Reversed decision of 11th Cir. (affirming district court judgment vs. plaintiff-employee Babb and for defendant-employer United States). Case Name: Harris v. Union Pacific Railroad Court: U.S. Ct. App. 8th Cir. Docket: 19-1514 Decided: 3/24/2020 Read (PDF) and (PDF) Case Issue: May a class action be certified under the Americans with Disabilities Act to challenge a company-wide policy that affects employees in various jobs with various disabilities? Case Result: Class certification vacated and remand for individual proceedings. Case Name: Kwesell v. Yale University
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. Conn. Docket: 3:19-cv-01098 Read: (PDF), , Listen/Read Filed: 7/16/2019 Case Issue: Is a wellness program that fines employees $1,300. per year for refusing to reveal medical and genetic information and submit to medical examinations "voluntary" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). Case Name: Taylor v. Burlington Northern RR Holdings
Court: Supreme Ct. State of Washington Docket: 96335-5 (9th Cir. No. 16-35205) Decided: 7/11/2019 Read AARP's (PDF) and (PDF)
Case Issue: Is obesity an impairment under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), Revised Code of Washington, Section 49.60.040 and, if so, under what circumstances? Answer to certified question: "obesity always qualifies as an impairment under the plain language of [Revised Code of Washington] 49.60.040(7)(c)(i) because it is a 'psysiological disorder, or condition' that affects many . . . body systems." Case Name: Richardson v. Chicago Transit Authority
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 7th Cir. Docket: 17-3508 Read (PDF), and Decided: 6/12/2019 Case Result: The Seventh Circuit ruled that a Chicago bus driver’s “extreme obesity” did not constitute an “impairment” covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) absent proof either that it was caused by a separate, underlying physiological disorder or condition or that, on its own, it constituted a physiological disorder. The Court rejected AARP’s and Richardson’s arguments that the ADA, as amended in 2008, calls for a more lenient analysis of what constitutes an ADA impairment. The Court affirmed a district court’s dismissal of Mr. Richardson’s challenge to his termination. Case Name: Kleber v. CareFusion
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 7th Cir. Docket: 17-1206 Read AARP's (PDF), (PDF) and En banc (PDF) (4/23/2019, PDF) Decided: 1/23/2019 Petition for Cert Filed: 4/23/2019 Cert Denied: 10/7/2019 Result Note: The U.S. Supreme Court denied Kleber's petition for certiorari. As a result, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit's decision that section 4(a)(2) of the Age Discriminaiton in Employment Act (ADEA) does not permit outside job applicants to challenge unreasonable hiring policies and practices under the disparate impact theory is allowed to stand. Case Result: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, sitting en banc, reversed a favorable panel decision and held that the district court properly dismissed a job applicant's disparate impact claim against a potential employer for age discrimination because section 4(a)(2) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), does not apply to outside job applicants. Case Name: Reagan-Diaz v. Sessions
Court: U.S. Ct. App. D.C. Cir Docket: 17-5092 Decided: 1/11/2019 Read AARP's (PDF) Case Result: The D.C. Circuit upheld the district court's decision that Reagan-Diaz's requested accommodation of an initial 2-hour workday was unreasonable and held that she could not perform the essential functions of her job. Case Name: Mt. Lemmon Fire Dist. v. Guido & Rankin
Court: U.S. Supreme Court Docket: 17-587 Decided: 11/6/2018 Read AARP's (PDF) and
Case Result: Unanimous affirmance of ninth circuit decision upholding application of ADEA to state and local government employers regardless of number of employees. Case Name: American Diabetes Ass'n v. U.S. Dept. Army Court: U.S. Ct. App. 9th Cir. Docket: 18-15242 Filed: 6/29/2018 Read (PDF)
Case Issue: Does a large entity engaged in legal advocacy incur an "injury-in-fact"--required by Article III of the U.S. Constitution to establish "organizational standing"--by virtue of a single contact between the organization's legal advocacy staff and parents conplaining about a matter affecting the group's organizational mission? Case Name: Taaffe v. Drake Court: U.S. Dist Ct. SD Ohio Docket: 15-02870 Decided:6/20/2018 Read , (PDF) and
Case Result: Plaintiffs reinstated to prior positions. OSU paid $765,000 and agreed to add "age" to the list of protected categories on job posting sites; hold two trainings regarding age discrimination and HR investigations; adopt a "second look" policy where HR complainants can appeal results of investigation and obtain an unconflicted individual's review; and University-wide review of all discrimination policies and guidelines. Case Name: Epic Systems v. Lewis; NLRB v. Murphy Oil; Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris Court: U.S. Supreme Court Docket: 16-285; 16-300; 16-307 Decided: 5/21/2018 Read AARP's (PDF) Case Result: The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires enforcement of an employer’s requirement that employees resolve legal disputes disputes with the employer in individual arbitration, and neither the FAA’s savings clause nor the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) requires employees to be allowed to resolve such disputes collectively or as a class. Case Name: Williams v. Tarrant County College District (TCCD)
Court: U.S. Ct. App. 5th Cir. Docket: 16-11804 Filed: 4/19/2017 Read AARP's (PDF)
Case Issue: Did Ms. Williams' employer, who conceded she is a person with an ADA "impairment," thereby regard her as having an ADA disability? Case Name: Green v. Dallas County Schools
Court: Supreme Ct. Texas Docket: 16-0214 Filed: 8/3/2016
Read AARP's (PDF)
Case Issue: Are plaintiffs suing under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or under a state law similar to the ADA or following interpretations under the ADA, required to show the underlying cause of their disability in order to demonstrate a covered "disability," and thereby to be entitled to the ADA's (or an equivalent state law's) antidiscrimination protection. Case Name: Raymond v. Spirit AeroSystems
Court: U.S. Dist. Ct. Kansas Docket: 16-cv-01282 Filed: 7/11/2016 Read and Case Issue: In conducting a reduction-in-force, did the aerospace company target older workers in the hope of eliminating individuals with costly medical claims from the firm's self-insured medical plan? Cancel You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. The provider’s terms, conditions and policies apply. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits. Your email address is now confirmed. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. You can also by updating your account at anytime. You will be asked to register or log in. Cancel Offer Details Disclosures