Western Air Lines, Inc. v. Criswell et al. (472 U.S. 400)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 17, 1985 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 472 U.S. 400 · 105 S. Ct. 2743
- Decided
- June 17, 1985
- Term
- October Term 1984
- Vote
- 8–0
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. The petitioner, Western Air Lines, Inc., requires that its flight engineers retire at age 60. Although the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), 29 U. S. C. §§621-634, generally prohibits mandatory retirement before age 70, the Act provides an exception “where age is a bona fide occupational qualification [BFOQ] reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business.” A jury concluded that Western’s mandatory retirement rule did not qualify as a BFOQ even though it purportedly was adopted for safety reasons. The question here is whether the jury was properly instructed on the elements of the BFOQ defense. I In its commercial airline operations, Western operates a variety of aircraft, including the Boeing 727 and the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10. These aircraft require three crew members in the cockpit: a captain, a first officer, and a flight engineer. “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 not operate the flight controls unless the captain and the first officer become incapacitated.” Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston, 469 U. S. 111, 114 (1985). A regulation of the Federal Aviation…
Excerpt of a 44,989-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.