Case No. 18-882 | 11th Cir.
Preview by Boseul (Jenny) Jeong, Online Editor
The parties seek the Court’s interpretation of 29 U.S.C. § 633a(a), the federal-sector provision of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (“ADEA”), regarding whether it requires a plaintiff to prove that age was a “but-for” cause of the challenged action.
The first main issue is whether the text of § 633a(a) provides a but-for cause requirement. The core text at issue is the phrase “shall be made free from any discrimination based on age.” 29 U.S.C. § 633a(a) (2018) (emphasis added). The Petitioner argues that the ADEA requires federal employment decisions to be “made free from” any age discrimination, and thus age does not have to be a but-for cause. The Petitioner points out that § 633a(a) was based off of the federal-sector provision of Title VII which never required but-for causation for discrimination. Alternatively, the Petitioner suggests that the EEOC’s interpretation must be given Chevron deference. The Government, the respondent in this case, points to the phrase “based on” in § 633a(a), arguing that this signifies a requirement of but-for causation. It reasons that the plain meaning of “based on” calls for causal relation and that it is further supported by “the default rule” in tort law, which requires the plaintiff to prove but-for causation. Finally, the Government asserts that the history of § 633a(a) contradicts a diminished causation standard.
The second main issue is the implication of the new but-for causation rule applied to private-sector provisions of the ADEA. The Petitioner cites the Court’s precedents holding that § 633a(a) differs from the private-sector provisions, and argues that the practice relating to the private sector does not bear on that of the public sector. On the other hand, the Government expresses concern about creating anomalies by applying different standards to provisions in the same statute.
The Court’s ruling will most likely have a huge impact on not only public employees’ rights against age discrimination, but also other employment discrimination lawsuits by providing additional guidance on the causation standards.