Political Quotes

“today, I am pleased to join Senators Harkin and Grassley in introducing the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act. This bipartisan bill seeks to restore crucial worker protections that have been cast aside by a narrow, 5 4 Supreme Court decision. The bill also reaffirms the contributions made by older Americans in the workforce and ensures that employees will be evaluated based on their performance and not by arbitrary criteria such as age. Congress has long worked to enact civil rights laws to eliminate discrimination in the workplace. In 1967, Congress passed the Age Discrimination and Employment Act, ADEA, with the intent to extend protections against workplace discrimination to older workers. We strengthened these protections in the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which passed in the Senate 93 to five. These statutes established a clear legal standard and Congressional intent: an employer's decision to fire or demote an employee may not be motivated in whole or in part by the employee's age. However, the 2009 Supreme Court decision in Gross v. FBL unilaterally erased that clear legal standard. A slim 5 4 majority threw out a jury verdict in favor Jack Gross, a 32-year employee of a major financial company, who sued under the ADEA. The jury had concluded that age was a motivating factor in the company's decision to demote Gross and reassign his duties to a younger, significantly less qualified worker.…”