Date: May 20, 2024
Law360 spoke with TELG principal Anita Mazumdar Chambers about a recent development that would amend the Federal Arbitration Act. The recently passed Protecting Older Americans Act invalidates mandatory arbitration agreements, allowing workers with age discrimination claims to go to court instead.
Quoteworthy:
"People might not be as aware that certain comments or ideas are in fact ageist — like looking for a fresher perspective or new blood on a project."
Anita Mazumdar Chambers
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[EXCERPT]
Senate Gets Chance To Tackle An Overlooked Form of Bias
Law360 (May 20, 2024, 5:01 PM EDT) — A bill invalidating mandatory arbitration agreements for workplace age discrimination claims recently won bipartisan support for a full Senate vote, a development experts say gives lawmakers a chance to curb a type of bias that’s remained stubbornly persistent as some people perceive it as acceptable.
The Protecting Older Americans Act, which was introduced in June 2023 by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and co-sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 9. The legislation, which cleared committee by a 15-6 vote, would amend the Federal Arbitration Act to invalidate pre-dispute mandatory arbitration agreements — which many employees sign as part of their onboarding paperwork — and allow workers over 40 with age discrimination claims the option of bringing them in court instead.
[…]
Anita Mazumdar Chambers of The Employment Law Group, who represents employees, said age discrimination frequently takes the form of a gradual erosion of duties, or a shifting of the best projects from older to younger workers.
Or an employer might say it needs to shed some of its “more expensive” workers, which can be code for tenured or older employees, Chambers said.
She said she wouldn’t go as far as to say age bias is “acceptable,” but said that “people might not be as aware that certain comments or ideas are in fact ageist — like looking for a fresher perspective or new blood on a project.”
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