Richard Hopkins, a 61-year-old employee of the city of Independence, Missouri, was diagnosed with a heart condition that prevented him from driving for six months. Driving was an essential function of his job, so it was impossible for him to work for six months. Under the city’s “Leave Donation Program,” employees of the city were permitted to donate up to 40 hours of vacation, personal-business, and sick leave to other employees. When his co-workers learned of Hopkins’s condition, they began to donate leave time to him under the Leave Donation Program. Shortly after the donations began, however, the city’s Human Resources Administrator told Hopkins that he was ineligible for the program because he was over 60, also saying, “I didn’t know you were that old.” Among several other requirements, the Leave Donation Program stipulated that, in order to be eligible, the recipient employee must “not be eligible for regular retirement.” Eligibility for retirement is defined in the city’s Personnel Policies and Procedures manual as “age sixty (60)” and “vested” in the city’s pension plan (requiring five years of service). Does the city’s Leave Donation Program violate the ADEA? [United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) v. City of Independence, Missouri, 471 F.3d 891 (8th Cir. 2006).]