An appeals court ruling in an age discrimination lawsuit brought by an Ohio bank teller could harm legal protections for older workers, according to two amicus briefs filed in support of the teller’s effort to overturn that decision.
One brief was filed by AARP, AARP Foundation and the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to reverse a panel ruling in the lawsuit, Pelcha v. MW Bancorp Inc. The second brief, also in support of the plaintiff, Melanie Pelcha, was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC is the federal agency responsible for handling complaints related to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which protects people 40 and older from bias in the workplace.
Pelcha started working at Watch Hill Bank in Ohio in August 2005. In July 2016, she was fired for failing to properly submit a request for a few hours off work, even though she had received verbal permission from her supervisor to take the time off. A new policy the bank enacted earlier that year required employees to submit written requests for time off by the middle of the month before the month in which the time would be taken. Pelcha, who was 47 at the time, was replaced with a woman a decade younger. Read more...
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