Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston et al. (469 U.S. 111)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 8, 1985 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 469 U.S. 111 · 105 S. Ct. 613
- Decided
- January 8, 1985
- Term
- October Term 1984
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Powell
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed and reversed (or vacated) in part
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Powell delivered the opinion of the Court. Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA), a commercial airline, permits captains disqualifed from serving in that capacity for reasons other than age to transfer automatically to the position of flight engineer. In this case, we must decide whether the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), 81 Stat. 602, as amended, 29 U. S. C. § 621 et seq., requires the airline to afford this same “privilege of employment” to those captains disqualified by their age. We also must decide what constitutes a “willful” violation of the ADEA, entitling a plaintiff to “liquidated” or double damages. I A TWA has approximately 3,000 employees who fill the three cockpit positions on most of its flights. The “captain” is the pilot and controls the aircraft. He is responsible for all phases of its operation. The “first officer” is the copilot and assists the captain. The “flight engineer” usually monitors a side-facing instrument panel. He does no.t operate the flight controls unless the captain and the first officer become incapacitated. In 1977, TWA and the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) entered into a collective-bargaining agreement, under which every employee in a cockpit position was required to retire when he reached the age of 60. This provision for mandatory retirement was lawful under the ADEA, as part of a “bona fide seniority…
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