The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has revised its regulations regarding enforcement of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The text of the affected regulations as revised is
here. The purpose of the revisions is to conform them with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in
General Dynamics Land System, Inc. v. Cline, 540 U.S. 581 (2004). There, the Supreme Court held that the ADEA prohibits only age discrimination against employees that are older than there comparators. That means that an employee over 40 cannot complain that an older employee was favored over him or her, even though the over-40 employee is covered by ADEA.
The new text of the regulation makes clear:
Favoring an older individual over a younger individual because of age is not unlawful discrimination under the ADEA, even if the younger individual is at least 40 years old. However, the ADEA does not require employers to prefer older individuals and does not affect applicable state, municipal, or local laws that prohibit such preferences.