Baldwin, Grassley Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Protect Older Workers from Discrimination in the Workplace

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the bipartisan Protecting Older Workers from Age Discrimination Act (POWADA) to level the playing field for older workers and protect Americans from age discrimination in the workplace.

“Every Wisconsin worker deserves to feel respected and protected in the workplace. We need to ensure this is true for older workers, so they have equal footing and are treated with the dignity they deserve,” said Senator Baldwin.

“Americans of all ages can offer valuable contributions to our society and economy, including older Americans. They deserve to be protected from workplace discrimination like other Americans. The Supreme Court’s decision involving Iowan Jack Gross impacted employment discrimination litigation across the nation, sending a wrong message to employers that age discrimination is okay. It’s long past time for us to clarify the intent of Congress so Americans don’t face job discrimination due to age,” said Senator Grassley.

In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled in Gross v. FBL Financial Services that workers who face age discrimination must meet a higher burden of proof than workers who face discrimination based on other characteristics like race, sex, national origin or religion.

The court ruled that, whereas for decades a worker needed to prove only that discrimination was a factor in an adverse employment decision to make an age discrimination claim, now a worker needs to prove it was the deciding factor in that decision. This significantly weakened the protections of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and sent a clear signal to employers: some age discrimination is perfectly fine.

A survey conducted by AARP in 2018 found that more than three in five workers ages 45 and above reported seeing or experiencing age discrimination in the workplace. The survey also found that three quarters of these workers cited age discrimination as a reason for their lack of confidence in being able to find a new job.

POWADA would amend the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the retaliation provision in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to level the playing field for older workers. The bill would restore the pre-Gross standard, recognizing once again the legitimacy of so-called “mixed-motive” claims in which discrimination is a, if not the deciding, factor. It would also reaffirm that workers may use any type of admissible evidence to prove their claims.

The legislation is also co-sponsored by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and was introduced in the U.S. House today by Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Alma Adams (D-NC-12), and Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-02). This legislation is supported by National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs (NANASP), Elder Justice Coalition, AARP, Alliance for Retired Americans, The National Council on Aging, National Partnership for Women & Families, USAging, National Employment Law Project, and National Women’s Law Center.

“AARP, which advocates for the more than 100 million Americans age 50 and older, is pleased to endorse the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act,” said Bill Sweeney, AARP Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. “Older workers deserve a fair shot and our economy needs them. This bill helps level the playing field for older workers and restores their ability to fight back against age discrimination in the workplace.”

“No one should face discrimination in the workplace, including older workers. In particular, older women are already at an economic disadvantage due to decades of facing gender-based discrimination and harassment, the gender wage gap, and a lack of family supportive policies - and age discrimination can be the final blow to their economic security as they look toward retirement. The National Partnership commends the bipartisan POWADA bill sponsors for taking this critical step to ensure that older workers have the same legal rights against discrimination as everyone else,” said Sharita Gruberg, Vice President for Economic Justice at National Partnership for Women & Families.

A one-pager on this bill is available here. Full text of this legislation is available here. 

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