Friday, June 19, 2009

Supreme Court makes it harder to win age discrimination lawsuits

The U. S. Supreme Court Thursday made it more difficult for a plaintiff to win an age discrimination lawsuit. By a 5-4 vote, the court ruled that it is no longer enough to prove that age was a factor in an employee's dismissal. Now, it has to be proven that age was the dominant factor:


"The burden of persuasion does not shift to the employer to show that it would have taken the action regardless of age, even when a plaintiff has produced some evidence that age was one motivating factor in that decision," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority, which included Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., Anthony M. Kennedy and Antonin Scalia.


One thing should be remembered. The justices who made the decision- Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia have their jobs for life and cannot be removed (barring impeachment) even if they serve into their 90s.

Talk about hypocrisy.

No comments: