Employers face additional burden in defending age claims

Today the U.S. Supreme Court made it harder for employers to defend themselves against a claim of age discrimination in Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.  Knolls, a government contractor that contracted with the Navy and Department of Energy, was forced to reduce its workforce in the mid 1990s when the end of the Cold War reduced the government’s demand for nuclear reactors.  After eliminating over 100 jobs, Knolls had 31 left to cut.  Of the 31 salaried employees that Knolls laid off, 30 were at least 40 years old and, of that 30, 28 sued Knolls for age discrimination under two theories: disparate treatment (intentional discrimination) and disparate impact (discriminatory effect of a facially neutral policy).   The question before the Supreme Court was which party must allege and prove that a termination having a disparate impact on older workers was based on reasonable factors other than age.  The Supreme Court held that this burden falls on employers in both instances.