SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Older 
Workers Against Discrimination Act’’. 
SEC. 2. STANDARDS OF PROOF. 
(a) AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 
1967.— 
(1) CLARIFYING PROHIBITION AGAINST IMPER-
MISSIBLE CONSIDERATION OF AGE IN EMPLOYMENT 
PRACTICES.—Section 4 of the Age Discrimination in 
Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 623) is amend-
ed by inserting after subsection (f) the following: 
‘‘(g)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, an 
unlawful practice is established under this Act when the 
complaining party demonstrates that age or an activity 
protected by subsection (d) was a motivating factor for 
any practice, even though other factors also motivated the 
practice. 
‘‘(2) In establishing an unlawful practice under this 
Act, including under paragraph (1) or by any other meth-
od of proof, a complaining party— 
‘‘(A) may rely on any type or form of admis-
sible evidence and need only produce evidence suffi-
cient for a reasonable trier of fact to find that an 
unlawful practice occurred under this Act; and
‘‘(B) shall not be required to demonstrate that 
age or an activity protected by subsection (d) was 
the sole cause of a practice.’’. 
(2) REMEDIES.—Section 7 of such Act (29 
U.S.C. 626) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (b)— 
(i) in the first sentence, by striking 
‘‘The’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) The’’; 
(ii) in the third sentence, by striking 
‘‘Amounts’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(2) Amounts’’; 
(iii) in the fifth sentence, by striking 
‘‘Before’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(4) Before’’; and 
(iv) by inserting before paragraph (4), 
as designated by clause (iii) of this sub-
paragraph, the following: 
‘‘(3) On a claim in which an individual demonstrates 
that age was a motivating factor for any employment prac-
tice, under section 4(g)(1), and a respondent demonstrates 
that the respondent would have taken the same action in 
the absence of the impermissible motivating factor, the 
court— 
‘‘(A) may grant declaratory relief, injunctive re-
lief (except as provided in subparagraph (B)), and
attorney’s fees and costs demonstrated to be directly 
attributable only to the pursuit of a claim under sec-
tion 4(g)(1); and 
‘‘(B) shall not award damages or issue an order 
requiring any admission, reinstatement, hiring, pro-
motion, or payment.’’; and 
(B) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘Any’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Subject to subsection (b)(3), 
any’’. 
(3) DEFINITIONS.—Section 11 of such Act (29 
U.S.C. 630) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(m) The term ‘demonstrates’ means meets the bur-
dens of production and persuasion.’’. 
(4) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Section 15 of such 
Act (29 U.S.C. 633a) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(h) Sections 4(g) and 7(b)(3) shall apply to mixed 
motive claims (involving practices described in section 
4(g)(1)) under this section.’’. 
(b) TITLE VII OF
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT
OF 
1964.— 
(1) CLARIFYING PROHIBITION AGAINST IMPER-
MISSIBLE CONSIDERATION OF RACE, COLOR, RELI-
GION, SEX, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN IN EMPLOYMENT
PRACTICES.—Section 703 of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2) is amended by striking 
subsection (m) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(m) Except as otherwise provided in this title, an 
unlawful employment practice is established when the 
complaining party demonstrates that race, color, religion, 
sex, or national origin or an activity protected by section 
704(a) was a motivating factor for any employment prac-
tice, even though other factors also motivated the prac-
tice.’’. 
(2) FEDERAL
EMPLOYEES.—Section 717 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) Sections 703(m) and 706(g)(2)(B) shall apply 
to mixed motive cases (involving practices described in sec-
tion 703(m)) under this section.’’. 
(c) AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990.— 
(1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101 of the Ameri-
cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12111) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(11) 
DEMONSTRATES.—The 
term 
‘dem-
onstrates’ means meets the burdens of production 
and persuasion.’’.
(2) CLARIFYING PROHIBITION AGAINST IMPER-
MISSIBLE
CONSIDERATION
OF
DISABILITY
IN
EM-
PLOYMENT
PRACTICES.—Section 102 of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 12112) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(e) PROOF.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Except as otherwise 
provided in this Act, a discriminatory practice is es-
tablished under this Act when the complaining party 
demonstrates that disability or an activity protected 
by subsection (a) or (b) of section 503 was a moti-
vating factor for any employment practice, even 
though other factors also motivated the practice. 
‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION.—In establishing a dis-
criminatory practice under paragraph (1) or by any 
other method of proof, a complaining party— 
‘‘(A) may rely on any type or form of ad-
missible evidence and need only produce evi-
dence sufficient for a reasonable trier of fact to 
find that a discriminatory practice occurred 
under this Act; and 
‘‘(B) shall not be required to demonstrate 
that disability or an activity protected by sub-
section (a) or (b) of section 503 was the sole 
cause of an employment practice.’’.
(3) CERTAIN ANTI-RETALIATION CLAIMS.—Sec-
tion 503(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12203(c)) is 
amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘The remedies’’ and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the remedies’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) CERTAIN
ANTI-RETALIATION
CLAIMS.— 
Section 107(c) shall apply to claims under section 
102(e)(1) with respect to title I.’’. 
(4) REMEDIES.—Section 107 of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 12117) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(c) DISCRIMINATORY MOTIVATING FACTOR.—On a 
claim in which an individual demonstrates that disability 
was a motivating factor for any employment practice, 
under section 102(e)(1), and a respondent demonstrates 
that the respondent would have taken the same action in 
the absence of the impermissible motivating factor, the 
court— 
‘‘(1) may grant declaratory relief, injunctive re-
lief (except as provided in paragraph (2)), and attor-
ney’s fees and costs demonstrated to be directly at-
tributable only to the pursuit of a claim under sec-
tion 102(e)(1); and 
‘‘(2) shall not award damages or issue an order 
requiring any admission, reinstatement, hiring, pro-
motion, or payment.’’. 
(d) REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Sections 501(f), 503(d), and 
504(d) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 
791(f), 793(d), and 794(d)), are each amended by 
adding after ‘‘title I of the Americans with Disabil-
ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.)’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, including the standards of causation or 
methods of proof applied under section 102(e) of 
that Act (42 U.S.C. 12112(e)),’’. 
(2) FEDERAL
EMPLOYEES.—The amendment 
made by paragraph (1) to section 501(f) shall be 
construed to apply to all employees covered by sec-
tion 501. 
SEC. 3. APPLICATION. 
This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 
shall apply to all claims pending on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision or portion of a provision of this Act, 
an amendment or portion of an amendment made by this
Act, or the application of any provision or portion thereof 
or amendment or portion thereof to particular persons or 
circumstances is held invalid or found to be unconstitu-
tional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 
by this Act, or the application of that provision or portion 
thereof or amendment or portion thereof to other persons 
or circumstances shall not be affected. 
SEC. 5. REPORT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF-
FICE. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Government Accountability Office 
shall submit to the Congress a report analyzing how the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigates 
mixed motive age discrimination claims arising under the 
Acts amended by this Act, focusing on— 
(1) the ability of the Commission to meet the 
demands of its workload under such Acts; 
(2) the plans of the Commission for inves-
tigating systemic age discrimination in violation of 
such Acts; 
(3) the plans of the Commission for litigation 
under such Acts; and 
(4) the options for improving the ability of the 
Commission to respond to allegations of age dis-
crimination in violation of such Acts.
SEC. 6. STUDY AND REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Labor and the Equal Oppor-
tunity Employment Commission shall jointly conduct a 
study to determine the number of claims pending or filed, 
in addition to cases closed, by women who may have been 
adversely impacted by age discrimination as a motivating 
factor in workplace discrimination or employment termi-
nation. The Secretary of Labor and Chairman of the Com-
mission shall jointly submit to the Congress, and make 
available to the public, a report that contains the results 
of the study, including recommendations for best practices 
to prevent and to combat gender and age discrimination 
as it relates to women in the workplace. 
SEC. 7. REPORTS. 
For the 5-year period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Chairman of Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commission shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report at 1-year in-
tervals on the number of age discrimination in employ-
ment claims brought under this Act with the Equal Em-
ployment Opportunity Commission in the period for which 
such report is submitted.
SEC. 8. REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON 
CIVIL RIGHTS. 
(a) REPORT.—With funds appropriated in advance to 
carry out this section, and consistent with the operational 
and procedural requirements of the United States Com-
mission on Civil Rights, the Commission shall submit to 
the appropriate committees of the Congress a report con-
taining an analysis of the status of Federal mixed motive 
age discrimination in employment claims made against 
Federal agencies, including— 
(1) the number of such claims, specified by the 
Federal agency against which such claims are made; 
and 
(2) other related information the Commission 
determines to be appropriate. 
(b) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—The report required 
by subsection (a) shall be submitted not later that 5 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Passed the House of Representatives January 15, 
2020. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1230 
AN ACT 
To amend the Age Discrimination in Employment 
Act of 1967 and other laws to clarify appropriate 
standards for Federal employment discrimination 
and retaliation claims, and for other purposes.