Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is joining an effort to protect older workers from age discrimination in the workplace.  On June 18, 2009, in the case Gross v. FBL Financial, the Supreme Court changed long-standing practices and ruled that victims of age discrimination need to prove that the age discrimination was the “deciding factor” in employment decisions, making it much more difficult for these workers to protect their rights.  As a result, Feingold is cosponsoring legislation introduced by Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act, to restore fairness for older workers.  

“As the author of Wisconsin’s age discrimination law, I am deeply disappointed the Supreme Court has weakened federal law protecting older workers from age discrimination,” Feingold said.  “This bill simply restores the original intent of federal age discrimination law and ensures workers who are victims of age discrimination face the same legal standards for proving their cases as victims of other types of workplace discrimination.”  

Last year, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found an increase in number of age discrimination cases files throughout the country, making swift passage of this legislation all the more important.  The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act would restore the “motivating factor” standard for age discrimination cases, which is the standard used for race, national origin, religious and sex discrimination cases.  Once the employee proves that age was a motivating factor in a hiring, firing, promotion, or disciplinary decision, the burden is shifted to the employer to show it didn’t discriminate.

Feingold has been a longtime protector of the rights of older workers.  As a state senator, Feingold authored Wisconsin’s anti-age discrimination in employment law.