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Senator Hassan Cosponsors Bipartisan Bill To Protect Older Workers From Discrimination

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) cosponsored the bipartisan Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act, which would restore critical protections in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to make it easier for employees to prove when they are victims of age discrimination in the workplace.

 

“For more than a decade, age discrimination in the workplace has been even more difficult to prove through our legal system and it’s time we fix that,” Senator Hassan said. “This bipartisan legislation will reverse a misguided decision by the Supreme Court that weakened the ability of older Americans to prove that they had been victims of age discrimination. This hurts older Americans’ ability to get jobs that they need to provide for their families and fully participate in our economy. I urge my colleagues to join our bipartisan coalition in supporting this important bill.”

 

In 2009, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gross v. FBL Financial Services weakened the Age Discrimination in Employment Act by imposing a significantly higher burden of proof on workers alleging age discrimination than is required of workers alleging other forms of workplace discrimination.

 

Senator Hassan is working to ensure that all Americans are treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve. Following calls from Senator Hassan, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights urged the repeal of a discriminatory federal policy that allows employers to pay subminimum wages to workers who experience disabilities. The Senator also recently introduced bipartisan legislation with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) to ensure that providers cannot discriminate against patients in need of an organ transplant solely on the basis of a disability. Additionally, Senator Hassan joined her Senate colleagues in calling on the Biden administration to revise current guidance that has led to members of the LGBTQIA+ community being denied pension survivor benefits after losing their life partner. 

 

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