Opinion ID: 786790
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Adverse Employment Action and Inference of Discrimination

Text: 15 The appellees argue, and the District Court agreed, that their exclusion from Option # 2 and its $7,000/year benefit constituted an adverse employment action because it violated the ADEA by excluding them on the basis of their age. The Union and the School District contend that no adverse employment action occurred because the teachers who now complain elected not to participate in the early retirement plan under the old CBA and, consequently, forfeited their right to participate in the new plan. They also argue that Option # 2 does not discriminate on the basis of age but, rather, is offered to all teachers who meet the service-based eligibility criteria for the first time under the new CBA. See Hazen Paper Co., 507 U.S. at 609-14, 113 S.Ct. 1701 (holding that discrimination on the basis of non-age factors that may be correlated with age, such as pension status or seniority, does not violate the ADEA). 16 We hold here that the appellees met their de minimis burden of establishing a prima facie case of age discrimination under the ADEA. See, e.g., Criley v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 119 F.3d 102, 104 (2d Cir.1997); Scaria v. Rubin, 117 F.3d 652, 654 (2d Cir.1997). In Auerbach, we faced an almost identical question. There, the defendants school district and union had implemented an early retirement incentive plan that provided a $12,500 cash payment when a teacher who had fulfilled the retirement criteria (reaching age 55 and providing 20 years of service under the NYSTRS) actually retired at the end of the first year in which they became eligible. That is, in order to receive the cash payment, those teachers who had reached age 55 were required to retire at the end of the first year in which they had completed 20 years of service and those teachers who had completed the 20 years of service were required to retire in the year they reached age 55. Auerbach, 136 F.3d at 107-08. If teachers did not retire in the first year they became eligible, they could not receive the lump sum payment at a future date. In considering whether the plan discriminated on the basis of age, we concluded that, because teachers who were over the age of 55 but had not retired in the precise year they became eligible were barred from the retirement benefit while teachers under the age of 55 who had fulfilled the plan's service requirements still have the future option of receiving the benefit, age is a trigger for the denial of [the teachers'] employee benefits. Id. at 110. Consequently, we held that the teachers in Auerbach had established discrimination on the basis of age. 17 The School District and Union argue that their requirements for eligibility differ from the Auerbach plan's requirements. They contend that Option # 2 is strictly based on years of service and not on age as was the case in Auerbach. However, this is simply not true. Option # 2 requires that teachers meet the service retirement criteria established by the NYSTRS. Consequently, retirement eligibility is determined by when state service started. Those members who entered the system before July 1, 1973 are classified as Tier I, those who entered between July 1, 1973 and July 1, 1976 are classified as Tier II, and those entering after July 1, 1976 are classified as Tier III. Reichler v. New York State Teachers' Ret. Sys., 79 A.D.2d 268, 268-69, 437 N.Y.S.2d 754 (1981). Under both Tiers II and III, eligibility for retirement requires teachers to reach a minimum age of 55 and to have completed at least 30 years of credited service. N.Y. Retire & Soc. Sec. Law §§ 442(b)(1), 503(a). Under Tier I, there are three ways to qualify for retirement: two require the teacher to reach age 55 and complete either four or five years of state service while one allows a teacher who has accumulated 35 years of state service to be eligible for retirement regardless of whether or not he or she has reached age 55. N.Y. Educ. Law § 535(1). 18 The School District's contention that Option # 2 is entirely service-based rather than age-based is inaccurate. The only way to qualify for retirement under Option # 2 and have not reached the minimum age of 55 is to have joined the system prior to July 1, 1973 and have completed 35 years of state service. We agree with the District Court that this minor distinction is not enough to insulate Option # 2 from the logic and holding of Auerbach. Since all teachers must hold a four year post-secondary degree to qualify to teach grades pre-K through 12 and since the NYSTRS does not credit more than one year of service per calendar year or time of unpaid leave, it is extremely unlikely that any teacher who had not yet reached age 55 would ever have accumulated the 35 years of service necessary to qualify for retirement under Tier I. Thus we conclude that the reasoning of Auerbach applies here. Under Option # 2, teachers over age 55 (and those hypothetical teachers who accumulate 35 years of state service without reaching age 55) who do not elect Option # 2 in the precise year that they qualify under the service requirements are forever barred from receiving the $7,000/year benefit. However, teachers under 55, who have similarly met the other CBA service requirements for retirement still have the future ability to elect Option # 2 once they reach age 55 and qualify for retirement under the NYSTRS. Consequently, here, as in Auerbach, age — and not years of service — is the effective trigger for eligibility under Option # 2. This result constitutes a prima facie case of age discrimination. 19