Judges Sue Governor For Age Discrimination in Constitution

Here’s a unique age discrimination case coming out of the Philadelphia judiciary.

Literally, this case comes from judges. That’s because the case involves several judges who are suing. These judges, all six of them, are suing Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, claiming that the Pennsylvania Constitution singles out judges on the basis of their age and orders mandatory retirement.

The judges include four from the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

The provision of the Pennsylvania Constitution that’s at issue involves the mandatory retirement of judges at the age of 70.

The judges say that they are being treated differently from other state officers and employees.

This is very different from the garden-variety discrimination claim. Typically, in discrimination claims, an employee brings a claim after an employer takes some action which in essence singles out the employee on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion.

It’s very unusual for a case to be brought against a law. But leave it to judges to raise such a complex and creative issue.

The judges are claiming that this mandatory retirement provision violates the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause.

This is interesting indeed, as age discrimination complaints usually raise the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which forbids the unequal treatment of workers aged 40 or over in companies with over 20 employees.

Then again, this isn’t a typical age discrimination case. It’s a case alleging that the law, and not the employer, was violating the rights of the employees.

This case shows promise to go far. It’s a constitutional challenge and it won’t be surprising to see it before higher courts one day. It’s definitely one to watch.

Related Resources:

• Philadelphia Employment Lawyers (FindLaw)
• Rite Aid to Pay $250,000 for Violation of ADA (FindLaw’s Philadelphia Employment Law News)
• EEOC: Top Five Employment Claims Sued Over in Pennsylvania (FindLaw’s Philadelphia Employment News)