POWADA Round 2: The Senate’s Take on the Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. Override

Yesterday, 24 hours following the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions’ hearing on the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA), the full Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions took its own look at POWADA. EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien was given her own panel, and Ms. Helen Norton of the University of Colorado Law School was also added for the Senate’s iteration. Re-testifying were Mr. Jack Gross, the plaintiff in the underlying Gross case; Mr. Eric Dreiband, former General Counsel with the EEOC; and Ms. Gail Aldrich, of the AARP Board of Directors. To access the prepared testimony and a video replay of the proceedings, click here.

POWADA is designed to reverse the Supreme Court’s holding in Gross that claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act must be established under a “but-for” causation model, not a “motivating factor” model. Again, please see our previous posts regarding Gross here, here, here, and here, and my paper on Gross here.


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