; WASHINGTON WATCH
Age Discrimination
Fight Is Revived
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Well-established laws to prevent age dis- crimination on the job su;ered a blow last
year when a Supreme Court ruling undermined
that protection. Now, new legislation aims to level
the workplace playing field for older employees.
; In last year’s case, Jack Gross v. FBL Financial
Services, the court stated that workers need to bear a
higher burden of proof to show age discrimination.
Gross sued after he was demoted and his job was
taken by a younger employee. ; Before the Gross
ruling, an employee had only to prove that age was
one motivating factor in firings and demotions. But
the Supreme Court held 5-4 that employees who
sue their employers for age discrimination must
establish that age was the deciding factor in such
actions. ; Dozens of Democrats—including Rep.
George Miller of California and Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Patrick
Leahy of Vermont—are backing a bill called POWADA (Protecting Old-
er Workers Against Discrimination Act) that is working its way through
the legislative process. Harkin and Leahy are attracting support from
some Republicans. ; AARP policy chief John Rother said that the
Harkin-Leahy-Miller legislation is designed to restore the accepted
interpretation of age discrimina-
tion in employment—one that busi-
nesses have worked with for years.
; “At a time when a poor economy
is resulting in a record number
of age discrimination claims, it’s
urgent that this corrective leg-
islation be passed,” Rother said,
adding that the bill is supported
by business and aging advocates.
Rep. Miller
Sen. Harkin
Sen. Leahy
Older workers seeking
employment leads may
benefit from AARP’s new
online job search engine.
Job seekers can use the
free tool to search among
more than 1 million listings,
identifying openings tai-
lored to their situations by
specifying criteria such as
state, ZIP code, industry,
occupation and title. The
launch of the search en-
gine is AARP’s latest move
to better serve workers
age 50 and older. To ac-
cess the tool, go to aarp
.org/jobs.
A Million
New Online
Listings
; JOB SEARCH
; MEMBER BENEFITS
New Card, More
Value
Chances are, you’ve recently
received a new AARP mem-
bership card. Keep it handy
in your purse or wallet, be-
cause the new scannable card makes it easier to take ad-
vantage of all the services and programs that AARP offers.
; The hard plastic card has a magnetic strip and bar code.
You can scan it at participating retailers or AARP events,
then track your savings and activities online. ; For a cur-
rent list of retailers—or to review your entire AARP mem-
ber benefits package—visit aarp.org/mycard.
The AARP Tax-Aide
program is recruiting
volunteers to help low-
and moderate-income
taxpayers prepare
Be Part of
The Solution
; TAX-AIDE
and file their 2010
taxes. ; The program
is administered by
AARP Foundation in
cooperation with the
IRS. ; For information,
go to aarp.org/ta
volunteer1. Or call toll-
free 1-888-687-2277.
