The fourth employment related case to be heard by the Supreme Court which had begun hearing oral arguments Oct. 7 for the 2019-2020 term is Babb v. Wilkie,
In this case the high court will consider the standard of proof for federal government workers who bring claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
Federal laws against employment discrimination may have different provisions for private-sector and public-sector employees. In this case, the government argued that a strict "but-for" standard should apply to federal workers' claims, meaning that the employee must show the adverse employment action would not have been taken "but for" the employer's bias.
The employee in the case argued that a more lenient standard should apply that considers whether age bias was a motivating factor for the negative employment decision.
The Supreme Court will also hear Comcast v. National Association of African American-Owned Media, to review the standard of proof in federal workers' race discrimination claims under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Supreme Court will have heard oral argument in Comcast on Nov. 13 but hasn't set an argument date for Babb.
(Bloomberg Law) and (Fisher Phillips)
