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United States Supreme Court Employment Law Cases All pending employment law cases - click here |
Kentucky Retirement Systems v. EEOC (06-1037)
Age discrimination in employment: age bias in disability benefits
packages
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EEOC sued claiming that a
disability-retirement-benefits plan for state and county employees violates the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The trial court granted summary
judgment for defendants on the ground that EEOC did not establish a prima facie
case; the 6th Circuit, en banc 10-4, reversed.
The KRS disability-retirement-benefits plan disqualifies
employees who are still working from receiving disability-retirement benefits if
they have already reached normal retirement-benefit age at the time they become
disabled. The plan also calculates disability retirement benefits in such a way
that an older employee who is eligible to receive disability benefits receives
fewer benefits - in the form of lower monthly benefit payments - than a younger
disabled employee receiving disability-retirement benefits who is similar to the
older disabled employee in every relevant factor other than age. The 6th Circuit held that (1) EEOC established a prima
facie case because the plan is facially discriminatory on the basis of age and
(2) when a plan is facially discriminatory a plaintiff does not need additional
proof of discriminatory animus to establish a prima facie claim of disparate
treatment. The US Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the 6th Circuit's
judgment.
Case below: Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission v. Jefferson County Sheriff's Department
(6th Cir en banc 10/31/2006) (10-4)
Question presented in petition for certiorari: This Petition involves a public employee retirement plan that
includes normal and disability retirement benefits. A member who is eligible for
normal retirement benefits based on attained age plus a minimum service
requirement, or based on service alone, is not eligible for disability
retirement benefits. Because age may be a factor in determining eligibility for
normal retirement, it is an indirect factor in determining eligibility for
disability retirement. Moreover the calculation of disability retirement
benefits is based upon actual years of service plus the number of years
remaining before the member reaches retirement age or eligibility based on years
of service alone; age may thereby be an indirect factor in determining the
amount of disability retirement benefits. The question presented in
this Petition is accordingly: Whether any use of age as a
factor in a retirement plan is "arbitrary" and thus renders the plan facially
discriminatory in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act?
Question presented in brief for the EEOC: Whether proof that an employee benefit plan on its face requires
older workers to be denied disability benefits available to younger workers or
to receive fewer disability benefits than younger workers establishes a prima
facie case of discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act of 1967, 29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.
Certiorari Documents:
Briefs on the merits:
Counsel:
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Editor: Ross Runkel, Professor of Law Emeritus. email Ross@LawMemo.Com, Phone 503-399-8028. Copyright LawMemo, Inc.
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