Finally, in University of Tex. 11–15 (2015). . According to the Government, even if age played a part in such a decision, an employee or applicant for employment cannot obtain any relief unless it is shown that the decision would have been favorable if age had not been taken into account. This would be like a jury charge under a Title VII motivating factor analysis - with one major difference: under Title VII it would be the employer’s burden to prove the same decision defense. Justice Thomas states the government’s interpretation of the statute’s language is more reasonable than the Court’s because the entire phrase, “discrimination based on age,” modifies “personnel actions.” Therefore, what is being made is the personnel action. See 42 U. S. C. §2000e–2(m) (providing that an employer is liable if an employee establishes that a protected characteristic was a motivating factor in an employment action); §2000e–5(g)(2)(B) (limiting the remedies available to plaintiffs who establish motivating factor liability).1 Rather than supplementing a novel rule with a judicially crafted remedy, I would infer from the textual silence that Congress wrote the ADEA to conform to the default rule of but-for causation. Based upon the Court’s recent decision in Comcast we also know that for claims brought under 42 U.S.C. Healthy City Bd. First, the Court does not foreclose §633a claims arising from discriminatory processes. See 5 U. S. C. §2302(a)(2)(A). The Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program requires agencies to implement recruitment plans for women and certain underrepresented minorities. Critical to this analysis will be the text of the statute,  and any legislative intent that signals that Congress intended to deviate from what the Court has accepted as the default rule of but-for causation. His reasoning read like an English class, consisting almost entirely of parsing “matters of syntax” in the statute. (d) But-for causation is nevertheless important in determining the appropriate remedy. In an 8-to-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court just made it easier for federal employees and applicants to prove age discrimination by ruling that courts should not apply a heightened causation standard in such cases. . Accordingly, she argues proof that age was a but-for cause of a challenged employment decision is not needed. Pp. There is a violation to § 633a(a) of the ADEA when age “plays any part in the way a [personnel] decision is made.”. Employee A would have won out even if age had not been considered and employee B had not lost five points, since A’s score of 90 was higher than B’s initial, legitimate score of 85. 16(a), the Court’s rule presumably applies to claims alleging discrimination based on sex, race, religion, color, and national origin as well. The District Court granted the VA’s motion after finding that Babb had established a prima facie case, that the VA had proffered legitimate reasons for the challenged actions, and that no jury could reasonably conclude that those reasons were pretextual. In that act, which also governs federal employment, “personnel actions” includes “most employment-related decisions such as appointment, promotion, work assignment, compensation, and performance reviews.”, Accordingly, the Court concludes that age must be a but-for cause of the discrimination alleged.”, The Court explains that “age must be a but-for cause of discrimination—that is of differential treatment—but not necessarily a but-for cause of a personnel action itself.”, Therefore, a personnel action must be “made” in a way that is not tainted by differential treatment based on age or in the words of the statute, “free from any discrimination.”, There is a violation to § 633a(a) of the ADEA when age “plays any part in the way a [personnel] decision is made.”. 12) (1933); see also American Heritage Dictionary 524 (def. Remedies should not put a plaintiff in a more favorable position than he or she would have enjoyed absent discrimination. Today, however, the Court departs from this rule, concluding that the federal-sector provision of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) imposes liability if an agency’s personnel actions are at all tainted by considerations of age. 2017). Letter Brief for Respond- ent 1 (“The federal government has long adhered to anti- discrimination policies that are more expansive than those required by . On April 6, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Babb v. Wilkie . In those situations, Title VII prohibits an award of damages. The “any” role is clearly a lower standard that even motivating factor,  which is a point that Justice Thomas explicitly notes in his dissent. . Her age discrimination claim suffered a defeat in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (just below the Supreme Court), while her sex discrimination claim stood to fight another day. No. Given this established backdrop, the question becomes whether the federal-sector provision of the ADEA contains sufficiently clear language to overcome the default rule. But-for causation is “the background against which Congress legislate[s],” and it is “the default rul[e Congress] is presumed to have incorporated, absent an indication to the contrary in the statute itself.” Id., at 347 (citing W. Keeton, D. Dobbs, R. Keeton, & D. Owen, Prosser and Keeton on Law of Torts 265 (5th ed. Justice Thomas also criticizes the majority for judicially fashioning a remedial scheme that is not found in the plain language of the statute. . The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the lower court, finding itself bound by precedent that federal sector employees’ claims under the ADEA and Title VII require the plaintiff to show “but for” cause of the adverse personnel actions. What follows instead is that, under §633a(a), age must be the but-for cause of differential treatment, not that age must be a but-for cause of the ultimate decision.4. (b) Contrary to the Government’s primary argument, this interpretation is not undermined by prior cases interpreting the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U. S. C. §1681m(a), see Safeco Ins. What really matters for present purposes is the way these terms relate to each other. Appx. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. Argued January 15, 2020—Decided April 6, 2020. Order No. That interpretation, however, does not mean that age must be a but-for cause of the ultimate outcome. In short, it affects the relief that would be available to the employee. 74, 29 U. S. C. §633a(a), provides (with just a few exceptions) that “personnel actions” affecting individuals aged 40 and older “shall be made free from any discrimination based on age.” We are asked to decide whether this provision imposes liability only when age is a “but-for cause” of the personnel action in question. The Court points to various cases upholding statutes in which Congress chose to hold the federal government to a higher standard. But the Court does not cite any remedial statutory provision. Order No. “Bill” Young Veterans Affairs (“VA”) Medical Center’s Pharmacy Services division in Bay Pines, Florida as a clinical pharmacist. Pp. §28(b)(2), 88 Stat. The Court first observed that although the ADEA does not define the term “personnel actions,” the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 does. Because §633a(a)’s language also appears in the federal-sector provision of Title VII, 42 U. S. C. §2000e–. The Court  will carefully  examine each statute to determine the appropriate causation standard. . First, in 2013, the VA took away Babb’s “advanced scope” designation, which had made her eligible for promotion on the Federal Government’s General Scale from a GS–12 to a GS–13.2 Second, during this same time period, she was denied training opportunities and was passed over for positions in the hospital’s anticoagulation clinic. The government argued the plain language of § 633a(a) of the ADEA imposes liability only when age is the but-for cause of an employment decision. To obtain such relief, a plaintiff must show that age was a but-for cause of the challenged employment decision. 4(a)(2)) (1976); 4 Oxford English Dictionary 521 (def. If, for example, an employer hires a 50-year-old person who passed a computer-aptitude test administered only to applicants above 40, clearly a question could arise as to whether the hiring decision was “made free from” differential treatment. The Court holds that the syntax in the private-sector provision focuses on the end result of the personnel decision. If an applicant incurs costs to prepare for the discriminatorily administered aptitude test, a damages award compensating for such out-of-pocket expenses could restore the applicant to the “position tha[t] he or she would have enjoyed absent discrimination.” Ante, at 14. Plaintiffs cannot obtain compensatory damages or other forms of relief related to the end result of an employment decision without showing that age discrimination was a but-for cause of the employment outcome. The VA moved for summary judgment and offered non-discriminatory reasons for the challenged actions, and the District Court granted that motion. of African American-Owned Media, ante, p. ___, Title VII’s retaliation provision, Nassar, 570 U. S. 338, and the private-sector provision of the ADEA, Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., 557 U. S. 167 (2009). . 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