U.S. Supreme Court
In ‘Clean Sweep,’ Supreme Court Backs Workers in Fifth Case this Term
Posted Jun 20, 2008, 05:55 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The U.S. Supreme Court has shown a surprising turnabout in workers’ discrimination cases.
In all five cases this term, including a decision issued yesterday, the supreme court ruled for workers, the New York Times reports. The sweep “was little short of astonishing, given how far the court had appeared to be tilting toward business under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.,” the story says.
Just last year, a Chamber of Commerce lawyer had deemed it “our best term ever.” Now “it’s back to the drawing board,” said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center. “It’s been a clean sweep” for workers.
The latest decision came yesterday, when the court ruled 7-1 that employers, rather than employees, have the burden of proving layoffs did not discriminate against older workers in disparate impact lawsuits. The employer must provide evidence and persuade a court that its actions were done for reasons other than age, the court said.
The case is Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (PDF).
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