Johnson et al. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore et al. (472 U.S. 353)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 17, 1985 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 472 U.S. 353 · 105 S. Ct. 2717
- Decided
- June 17, 1985
- Term
- October Term 1984
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Marshall
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court. The issue is whether a federal statute generally requiring federal firefighters to retire at age 55 establishes, as a matter of law, that age 55 is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) for nonfederal firefighters within the meaning of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 81 Stat. 602, as amended, 29 U. S. C. §621 et seq. (ADEA or Act). h — I Congress enacted the ADEA “to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; [and] to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment.” 29 U. S. C. § 621(b). To this end, the Act today prohibits virtually all employers from discriminating on the basis of age against employees or applicants for employment who are between the ages of 40 and 70 by, for example, discharging them or requiring them to retire involuntarily. §§ 623(a), 631(a). The Act contains one general exception to this prohibition: when age is shown to be “a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business,” § 623(f)(1), an employee may be terminated on the basis of his age before reaching age 70. Since enacting the ADEA in 1967, Congress has amended its provisions several times. The ADEA originally did not…
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