TITLE-II OF THE OLDER WORKERS BENEFIT PROTECTION ACT - A LICENSE FOR AGE-DISCRIMINATION - THE PROBLEM IDENTIFIED AND PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

In the present competitive economic environment, employers often offer severance packages to employees in exchange for a waiver of their lig hts to bring age discrimination claims. In response, in 1990, Congress amended the Age Discrimination in Emloyment Act of 1967, adding title II of the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, to ensure that waiver s in the individual and group termination contexts were both ''knowing and voluntary'' rather than attained through duress, coercion, or mis take. In this Article, the author asserts that the amendment, as struc tured and interpreted by the courts, provides ill-intentioned employer s with a license to discriminate on the basis of-age. The author argue s that because the statutue does not require that employers furnish th eir employees with information regarding their replacements at the tim e of waiver their waivers cnnot be considered knowing and voluntary. M oreover requirements imposed by courts in some jurisdictions mandating that employees tender back severance benefits prior to filing suit fo r age discrimination inhibit emloyees from seeking redress for suspect ed discrimination. The author concludes by proposing an amendment that seeks to alleviate these problems, and offers employees and employers additional protections.