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In a victory for federal worker rights, the Supreme Court adopted a more favorable standard for federal employees to prove they were discriminated against on the basis of age in the workplace.
NTEU urged the court to take this position in a ‘friend-of-the-court’ brief filed last September in support of the employee. The case involves an employee at the Department of Veterans Affairs who alleges she was denied advancement and training opportunities, among other harm, because of her gender and age, and that management retaliated against her for filing complaints about the issue. NTEU’s brief argued that the higher standard of proof that the government contends federal employees must show in age discrimination cases is nearly impossible to prove and is contrary to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The federal sector ADEA provision commands, without qualification, that federal personnel actions “shall be made free from any discrimination based on age.”
The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, agreed with NTEU’s assertion that the ADEA’s federal sector provision provides broader protection to employees than the law’s private sector provision.
NTEU has a record of helping federal employees who were discriminated against based upon age through unjust removals or performance ratings and holding their employers accountable, just as the law intended.