Supreme Court Decision Alert - June 18, 2009

Originally published June 18, 2009

Keywords: Age discrimination, employment, mixed motive claim, ADEA, Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Travelers Indemnity v. Bailey, bankruptcy, debtor's insurance, asbestos

Today the Supreme Court issued two decisions, described below, of interest to the business community.

Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., No. 08-441 (previously discussed in the December 5, 2008 Docket Report).

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) makes it unlawful for an employer to take adverse action against an employee "because of such individual's age."   29 U.S.C. § 623(a).  In a 5-4 decision issued today, the Supreme Court held that the ADEA does not authorize so-called mixed-motives claims and that an ADEA plaintiff therefore bears the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that age was the "but for" cause of the challenged adverse employment action.