Problem-Solving Application-Firefighters, 46 and 54, Sue for Age Discrimination

The Mount Lemmon fire district in Arizona fired two firefighters, aged 46 and 54, who filed an age discrimination lawsuit in response. This activity is important because the legal constraints surrounding age discrimination as well as the OB issues that might lead to such a situation arising in the first place are both essential for managers to understand.

The goal of this activity is for you to consider what might lead to such a climate within an organization and what can be done to remedy it.

Read about the age discrimination lawsuit filed by Guido and Rankin against the Mount Lemmon fire district. Then, using the three-step problem-solving approach, answer the questions that follow.

Firefighters John Guido and Dennis Rankin were only 46 and 54, respectively, when they were fired by the Mount Lemmon fire district, a department of the state of Arizona. Each had put in nine years of employment. The fire district claimed the two were fired for budget reasons, and because they had not volunteered for wildland duty. But one of the people chosen to replace them had also not served on any wildland fire-fighting assignments for the last two years.

Guido and Rankin then filed an age discrimination suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), charging they had been let go simply because they were the two oldest full-time members of the department. The EEOC agreed there was reasonable cause for their claim that in dismissing them Mount Lemmon had violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

A federal trial judge sided with the fire districts attorneys, who argued that federal antidiscrimination law applied only to private organizations with at least 20 employees. Appealing the ruling, Guido and Rankin, who had meanwhile found other employment, watched as their case finally made its way to the US Supreme Court several years later. In its 80 ruling in late 2018 (newly appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate), the Supreme Court decided in favor of the two firefighters.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsbergs opinion in the case said Mount Lemmons reading of the law was inconsistent with precedent and with EEOC rulings and that, while the ADEA does not in fact apply to private companies with fewer than 20 employees, it sets no size limit on public employers, including local government entities like the Mount Lemmon fire department. Thus, these entities are required to obey the Age Discrimination Act regardless of size. With that ruling, Guido and Rankin were entitled to sue their former employer for damages. While the law does not guarantee they will win their case, they plan to ask for their lost past and future wages.

1. Which type of diversity might be an issue in the situation described in the case?

• race

• opinions and values

• sexual orientation

• gender

• age

2. Which of the following is the basis for Justice Ginsbergs opinion that Guido and Rankin have legitimate grounds for a lawsuit?

• The district is a public employer, making its size irrelevant.

• The district is a private employer with more than 20 employees.

• The district has already been sued for the same issue by other former employees.

• The district has operating expenses above a certain threshold.

• The district did not disclose its reasons for firing Guido and Rankin.

3. Which of the following might be part of a business case in favor of the Mount Lemmon fire district hiring employees with a broader range of ages?

• Hiring older firefighters reduces the chances of lawsuits.

• Hiring older firefighters is good for the districts public image.

• Hiring older firefighters is fairer.

• Hiring older firefighters will make the districts leadership happy.

• Firefighters who are older might also have more valuable experience

4. If the Mount Lemmon fire district attempts to implement age diversity initiatives, but these initiatives are defeated because the district is concerned that younger firefighters will be treated worse as a result, which of the following barriers mentioned in Section 4.6 is this an example of?

• poor career planning

• negative diversity climate

• inaccurate stereotypes and prejudice

• lack of organizational priority

• fears of reverse discrimination