For twenty years, Ozzie works for Players Paradise, a destination for vacationers from across the United States, maintaining golf carts. After a steady stream of positive job evaluations and merit pay raises, Ozzie is promoted to the position of supervisor of golf-cart maintenance at three of Players's courses. Five years later, a new employee, Quentin, is hired to oversee operations at all ten of Players's courses. Quentin demotes Ozzie, who is now over the age of forty, to running only one of the three cart facilities, and freezes his salary. Quentin demotes five other employees over the age of forty and places one of Ozzie's former facilities under the supervision of Richie, who is twenty-three. Ozzie overhears Richie say, "We're going to have to do away with these old, senile men."

Question

Less than a year later, Quentin reconsolidates the three cart facilities' operations under Richie's charge. Ozzie quits and files a suit against Players for employment discrimination. Should he prevail? Explain.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of age against individuals forty years of age or older. For the ADEA to apply, an employer must have twenty or more employees, and interstate commerce must be affected by the employer's business activities. Ozzie worked at Players Paradise, which with ten golf courses most likely employed more than twenty persons. The court would also probably find that Players's activities affected interstate commerce because it is a vacation destination with visitors from many states. Ozzie could likely establish the rest of a prima facie case. Because Ozzie was not demoted due to any apparent job-performance problems, the fact that he was replaced by a person approximately half his age, coupled with Richie's statement about getting rid of all the "old, senile men," would be enough to shift the burden to Players to show that it was not discriminating on the basis of age. Ultimately, based on the facts in the question, Ozzie would probably prevail.