EEOC Acts On Rule for Age Discrimination in Employment Act

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is conducting a public meeting 16 Nov 2011, to vote on a proposed rule providing guidance for what constitutes a “reasonable factor other than age” in defending claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

The agency also will have a panel discussion, “Overcoming Barriers to the Employment of Veterans with Disabilities,” at the meeting.

The proposed rule emphasizes the need “for an individualized, case-by-case approach to determining whether an employment practice is based on reasonable factors other than age,” according to background information issued by the EEOC last year.

The EEOC’s proposal is based on its analysis of the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Azel P. Smith et al. vs. City of Jackson, Mississippi, et al., which allowed “disparate impact” claims that do not require showing discriminatory intent under the ADEA, and the court’s 2008 decision in Meacham vs. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, in which the court ruled employers must show that there was a reason other than age discrimination in cases where layoffs appear to target older workers.

The EEOC is also examining “unlawful discrimination in employment and other challenges that veterans with disabilities may face” at the hearing, the agency said in a statement.

For further information on the meeting visit the EEOC website.