Stats on Age Bias Claims—Up Nearly 30%—Spur Alarm on EEOC Board
Age bias claims increased 29 percent last year, more than any other discrimination claim, spurring leaders of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to wonder if there will be a bigger increase this year.
Christine Griffin, acting vice chair of the EEOC, said at a commission hearing yesterday that she expects the numbers to worsen, the Washington Post reports. “It’s fair to anticipate age discrimination charges will rise as the financial crisis plays out,” she said.
Acting EEOC chairman Stuart Ishimaru said he wondered whether “the public generally realizes that age discrimination is illegal.”
Witnesses at yesterday’s hearing told the EEOC that recent Supreme Court decisions are making it harder to prove age discrimination claims, the Associated Press reports. The most recent case, decided last month, held that workers have the burden of proving that age discrimination was a key factor in a mixed-motive demotion of layoff.
The decision, Gross v. FBL Financial Services Inc., changed an interpretation of the law that called for workers to show age was just one factor in an employment decision, shifting the burden to the employer to show a permissible motive.
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