Supreme Court chief asks if ‘OK, boomer’ qualifies as workplace age discrimination

Chief Justice John Roberts questioned whether using the phrase "OK, boomer" would qualify as age discrimination.

On Wednesday, the court heard oral arguments for the case of Norris Babb, a Department of Veterans Affairs employee who says she was fired because of her age and gender. Babb sued the department because she was one of four women over the age of 50 to be denied a high-paying position on an innovative patient care program in Florida in 2010. She claimed that less qualified, younger female pharmacists were appointed to the team, as were older male doctors.

Babb’s attorneys claim that her age was a “motivating factor” in the decision not to promote her to the program. The department argued the law says that discrimination occurred if the individual would have gotten the job “but for” his or her age. The latter argument creates a much higher standard of evidence because the individual must prove that age was the only factor for being refused a position.

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