No, the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear in General Dynamics v. Cline (2004) that the ADEA does not sanction so-called reverse age discrimination claims. In Cline the Court considered whether a retirement plan that treated older workers in the protected class better than younger workers amounted to age discrimination. The Supreme Court said no, reasoning that the ADEA was concerned to protect a relatively old worker from discrimination that works to the advantage of the relatively young. The Court concluded: We see the text, structure, purpose, and history of the ADEA, along with its relationship to other federal statutes, as showing that the statute does not mean to stop an employer from favoring an older employee over a younger one.

• What if an employer fires one employee who is 65 and replaces him or her with someone who is 47. Does this constitute age discrimination since both employees are over 40?
• How old must an employee be to qualify for protection under the ADEA?
• What sorts of employer actions can constitute unlawful retaliation?
• How does an employee prove retaliation?
• If an employee files both a sex or race discrimination claim and a retaliation claim, can the retaliation claim survive even if the underlying sex or race claim is dismissed?
• Does Title VI I’s retaliation clause protect an employee who participates not in a court proceeding or EEOC investigation but in an employer’s internal investigation of sexual harassment?
• What does Title VII say about retaliation?
• What is an example of a discrimination case involving religion in which it was ruled that the employer did not accommodate the employee adequately?
• If the employee establishes a prima facie claim, what must the employer do?
• How does an employee prove a claim of religious discrimination?
• Title VII also prohibits religious discrimination by covered employers. What is the law’s definition of religion?
• Does Title VII prohibit discrimination against transsexuals?
• Does Title VII protect employees who are harassed by members of the same sex?
• Can employers assert any defense to supervisory harassment?
• If a supervisor commented on an employee’s physical anatomy a few times and made several sexual jokes in her presence, is that sexual harassment?
• Does Title VII apply to harassing behavior on the part of employers?
• If an employer does present a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the discharge then what must the employee do to prove his or her case?
• If an employee presents a prima facie (or basic) case of discrimination, what must the employer show?
• Would a negative performance evaluation constitute an adverse employment action?
• What is an adverse employment action?