Senators in the US re-introduce POWADA legislation to fight age discrimination in the US
A group of bipartisan senators have tried their hand again at introducing the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (“POWADA”), a proposal intended to strengthen age discrimination protections for older workers.
This is not the first-time bipartisan lawmakers have pushed for the bill’s passing, as senators have been urging for POWADA to be passed, as early as 2013.
How did this all begin?
As we reported in February 2019, POWADA would reverse a 2009 Supreme Court decision which made it harder for claimants to win a claim of age discrimination.
The 2009 Supreme Court decision in the Gross v FBL Financial Services, Inc. case held that the burden of proof in an age discrimination claim is on the claimant. Employees must show that age was the reason for the dismissal or discriminatory treatment, which is a much higher and more difficult standard of proof and one that didn’t fall on the employer.
Understandably, this is straightforward where age discrimination is overt, but much harder in cases where it is less obvious.
What will POWADA do?
As we reported in October 2015, POWADA would reinstate the lower burden of proof that existed before the ruling and was expressly stipulated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It would also amend the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to specify that age only needs to be one motivating factor in adverse employment actions, and it would also ensure that workers can use both circumstantial and direct evidence to prove their cases.
By re-instating the “mixed motive” test, it would align the burden of proof with the same standards used when proving race and national origin discrimination claims.
A version of POWADA passed the House with significant bipartisan support in the last Congress, by a vote of 261 to 155, with 34 Republican lawmakers voting in its favour, which was a significant move. However, it was unable to move past committee assignment in the Senate, hence it’s recent re-introduction.
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) has commented: “The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act is a bipartisan bill that would finally restore the legal rights of older workers by ensuring that the burdens of proof in age discrimination claims are treated in the same manner as other discrimination claims.”