Letter to the Hon. Lamar Alexander, Patty Murray, Chairman and Ranking Member, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee - Supporting the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act

Letter

Dear Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray:

We write to you today to ask that you quickly advance S. 2180, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA), through the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. As you are aware, POWADA has strong bipartisan support from Senators Kirk, Casey, Grassley, Ayotte, Bennet, Collins, Coons and Leahy. POWADA restores the intent of Congress to fully empower older workers to seek redress in the courts and to root out discrimination in the workplace. This bill would significantly protect one of the most vulnerable employee classes, older workers, from workplace discrimination. Under S. 2180, older workers would receive the same workplace rights as other protected classes.

While federal law protects workers from discrimination on the basis of age, race, sex, national origin, and religion, the 2009 Supreme Court ruling in Gross vs. FBL Financial significantly weakened the workplace rights afforded to older employees. This decision undermined congressional intent, overturned long-established precedent, and delivered a substantial blow to the ability of older workers to fight age discrimination. According to AARP, more than one third of older Americans reported that they or someone they know has experienced age discrimination in the workplace. Age discrimination is a key reason it takes, on average, a full year for an older worker to find employment. We must ensure that the law protects older Americans and does not discourage them from seeking employment.
The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act would not only restore the employment rights of older workers, but would additionally authorize the same burden of proof for an unlawful employment practice claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to working with you to advance this bill through the legislative process as quickly as possible to protect older Americans.

Sincerely,

Mark Kirk
Bob Casey
Chuck Grassley
Kelly Ayotte
Michael Bennet
Susan Collins
Chris Coons
Patrick Leahy