T. Brown et R. Montellaro, PENSION INTERFERENCE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE VIOLATION OF THE ADEA - HAZEN-PAPER-CO V BIGGINS, Employee relations law journal, 19(3), 1994, pp. 187-196
The United State Supreme Court recently held in Hazen Paper Co. v. Big
gins that there is no disparate treatment under the ADEA when the fact
or motivating an employer is some feature other than the employee's ag
e. The Court found that the discharge of an employee protected by the
ADEA occurring a few weeks before his pension was to vest does not est
ablish a violation of the Act. In so holding, the Court clarified the
standard of willfulness for purposes of awarding liquidated damages un
der the ADEA as requiring a showing that the employer knew or showed r
eckless disregard for whether its conduct was prohibited by the Act. T
his article reviews the facts and analysis of that decision.