otection Act. This legislation prohibits discrimination based on an employee being 40 or older and seeks to protect the benefits of older workers from any attempt by employers to avoid their obligations through direct, or indirect, means. This legislation imposes clear requirements on employers to ensure that they are not in violation of workers' rights.
The parameters of age discrimination cases are still being defined. For example, in a recent case, the Supreme Court overturned a ruling by a U.S. Appeals court in Richmond, Virginia. That appeals court had determined that James O'Connor, age 56, could not sue his company for replacing him with a younger man, since that man was 40 years old and also in the protected class. However, the Supreme Court stated that the federal law against age discrimination clearly applied to all those who are 40 or older and
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