Court Opinion

ID: 9495168
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:56:22.641776+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:51.686620
License: Public Domain

WILLIAMS, District Judge,
dissenting.
Whether you call it “reverse discrimination” or not, no court in the nation has recognized a claim for age discrimination under the ADEA when brought by younger workers within the protected class arguing that they were discriminated against in favor of older workers. As the majority recognizes above, the ADEA was developed by Congress for the purpose of alleviating problems faced by older workers, not the problems of younger ones. In this case, workers who were between 40 years of age and 50 years of age have brought this action claiming that, because they are a part of the protected class — all people older than 40 — they are entitled to protection under the ADEA not only from workers who are younger than they are, but also from workers who are older than they are.
I am persuaded by the Seventh Circuit’s reasoning in Hamilton v. Caterpillar, Inc., 966 F.2d 1226 (7th Cir.1992), that such a claim is not cognizable under the ADEA. As the court in Hamilton explained, “the ADEA ‘does not protect the young as well as the old, or even, we think, the younger against the older.’ ” Id. at 1227 (quoting Karlen v. City Colleges of Chicago, 837 F.2d 314, 318 (7th Cir.1988)).The court reasoned that age discrimination cannot be reversed as can sex or race discrimination because “[a]ge is not a distinction that arises at birth. Nor is age immutable.” Id.
Furthermore, while the statutory language of the ADEA may leave room for argument that reverse age discrimination is cognizable, I concur with the Hamilton court in that Section 621 of the ADEA refers to “older workers” and “older persons.” See 29 U.S.C. § 621. These references are, therefore, telling of Congress’s intent to prohibit employers from discriminating against older workers, as opposed to younger ones.
Finally, this dissent is based on a common sense understanding of collective bargaining agreements. I am of the opinion that the ADEA was not intended to interfere with the collective bargaining process or with collective bargaining agreements. The courts should not stand watch over labor unions who represent employees of a company and interfere with their negotiations with employers. I believe that it is obvious that the older a person is, the greater his or her needs become. Therefore, a 50-year-old worker may need more protection or more benefits than a 40-year-old worker. The majority's holding in this case potentially could have a devastating effect on the collective bargaining process, calling into question the validity of seniority and early retirement programs contained in collective bargaining agreements across the country. If such is allowed, bargaining for all workers, regardless of age, would suffer.
For the foregoing reasons, I would affirm the district court’s decision to grant the Appellee’s motion to dismiss based upon the determination that the Appellants did not allege facts to support a claim *477for discrimination under the ADEA. Therefore, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s opinion.
I do concur in the majority’s decision not to consider whether the plaintiffs have made out an actionable claim under the Ohio Civil Rights Act because the district court should be given the opportunity to address this issue on remand.