AARP Bulletin - November 2010

For this Supreme
Court term,
advocates for older
Americans have
filed briefs in cases
on worker rights,
investor protections
and health care.
Among them:
Cases on
Point
; Whether a Kentucky company vio-
lated federal civil rights law by firing
Eric Thompson, whose fiancée had
complained of sex discrimination. The
justices will decide if Thompson can sue
North American Stainless for retaliation.
Thompson and Miriam Regalado began
dating while working at a North Ameri-
can Stainless plant. The company fired
Thompson three weeks after it learned
Regalado had filed an EEOC complaint
claiming she had been unfairly demoted
twice because she was a woman.
The company initially faulted his job
performance and later said he was dis-
missed for insubordination. Thompson
sued, but a federal judge ruled that he
was not protected from retaliation.
The ruling on this case could have
broad impact on complaints about sex,
race or age discrimination on the job.
; Whether drugmaker Matrixx illegally
withheld information from investors by
failing to disclose reports of adverse re-
actions to its drugs. Federal law says a
Your World ;
company can be held liable for not re-
porting information that might affect
decisions to buy or sell its stock.
A group of shareholders sued Matrixx
and its top officials, accusing them of
withholding information about Zicam,
a cold medication, and reports that it
caused loss of smell. The company’s
stock shares dropped 12 percent in
one day when the side effect became
public. Stocks are often prominent in
retirement portfolios, and this case
could affect investors’ ability to sue to
protect their investments.
gets a new justice who is well qualified and we
hope will be around a long time.”
Cases on the court’s docket address age and
disability discrimination, veterans benefits, con-
sumer protection and employee benefits. [See
“Cases on Point,” above. Check AARP lawyers’
preview of the Supreme Court at aarp.org/
litigation.] The court may yet decide to hear a
class-action sex discrimination case brought
against Wal-Mart as well as the multistate
challenge to the new federal health care law.