The ADEA covers employers with twenty or more employees and protects workers age forty and above. It permits disparate impact claims subject to a reasonable factor other than age defense, and requires but-for causation for disparate treatment.
Liquidated damages are available for willful violations.
Alternative Names:
ADEA|Age Discrimination Act
Why it Matters?
But-for causation under Gross is a meaningfully higher standard than Title VII's motivating factor test, which means an employer showing age was one consideration among several may still prevail. The reasonable factor other than age defense also gives employers more room on impact claims than Title VII's business necessity standard. Waiver of ADEA claims in severance agreements requires specific OWBPA compliance that other releases do not.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How does ADEA causation differ from Title VII?
What does OWBPA require?
