Court Opinion

ID: 8917468
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-27 05:40:20.379362+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:09:07.303464
License: Public Domain

VAN GRAAFEILAND, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur with the majority that the judgment in favor of Trans World Airlines, Inc. and against Air Line Pilots Association International should be affirmed. I dissent from the majority’s reversal of the judgment in favor of TWA and against Thurston and the EEOC.
If I understand the basis for the latter holding, it is that pilots who reach 60 years of age are treated less favorably than younger pilots who sustain disabling injuries or whose positions are eliminated at a domicile by reductions in force. In my opinion, this is like comparing apples with oranges. A pilot does not know in advance that he is going to break his leg or that company economies will eliminate the job he is performing. However, a pilot knows the exact date on which he will become 60 years of age and that after that date, FAA regulations will no longer permit him to work as a pilot. Unlike a disabled younger man, a healthy pilot, 60 years of age, cannot go on unpaid medical leave for up to five years. For similar reasons, a 60 year old pilot should not be entitled to take a ten year furlough from a job he is forbidden by law to perform, accruing seniority status in the process. I don’t believe Congress intended that such a pilot should be permitted to take a nine-year vacation and return to work at the age of 69, displacing a younger flight engineer, who might have a spouse and family but who has less seniority.
Apparently, TWA is the only trunk airline that voluntarily has permitted pilots over 60 to continue working as flight engineers. Instead of receiving commendation for what it has done, TWA is held liable as a matter of law for age discrimination. I would affirm the judgment of the district court.