Supreme Court Rules for Workers in Age-Bias Proof Case

U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court Rules for Workers in Age-Bias Proof Case

Posted Jun 19, 2008, 09:20 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The U.S. Supreme Court has 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, says the majority opinion (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) by Justice David H. Souter.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer did not take part in the case, SCOTUSblog reports.

The ruling involves workers who challenged their dismissals from Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in upstate New York, the Associated Press reports. Thirty of 31 salaried employees who were laid off were at least 40 years old.

The case is Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.