In Whitman v. Mineta (9th. Cir. 2008) ____Fed.4th_____, the court held that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 633a, protects employees against retailiation by federal employers.
Terry Whitman was employed as a flight data specialist by the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA"). Whitman filed suit under the ADEA alleging that the FAA discriminated against him by promoting a student intern to a full-time position which Whitman sought. Whitman also alleged that the FAA retaliated against him when he filed a formal complaint of age discrimination.
The 9th Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of Whitman's retaliation claim. The 9th Circuit held that the ADEA protected employees from retaliation by federal employers. The 9th Circuit relied on the United States Supreme Court recent ruling in Gomez-Perez v. Potter (2008) ___ U.S. ___.
In Gomez-Perez, the US Supreme Court was faced with the same question: does the ADEA protect federal employees who are subjected to retaliation? The Supreme Court held that the ADEA does protect employees from retaliation. The Court analogized the ADEA with 42 U.S.C. § 1982, and 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a), both of which have been held to protect against retaliation. (Jackson v. Birmingham Bd of Ed. (2005) 544 U.S. 167, 176-177.)
Thus, recent US Supreme Court 9th Circuit decisions have increased federal employees' rights, protecting them not just from age discrimination, but also from retaliation for complaints of age discrimination.
--Michael Sachs
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