Effect of Reverse Discrimination Suit on Retirement Plans

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a reverse age-discrimination case on Wednesday. The following article highlights the challenging issues which could arise in the retirement plan arena if the court rules in favor of the younger workers: “High court to hear younger employees’ bias case.” Ann Reesman, an attorney for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce who filed a friend-of-court brief supporting the employer in the case, General Dynamics, said “any decision in favor of the younger workers would threaten hundreds of retirement plans that skew benefits toward older employees.” The article notes that such a ruling could threaten corporate practices of offering early retirement, special severance packages to workers based on age, “age-weighted” retirement plans, and even “catch-up” contributions.