Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his exceptional leadership in bringing this bill to the floor.
Mr. Chair, I rise in support of Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act.
Age is just a number. We hear that all the time, and there is so much truth to it. Yet, each year, too many Americans over the age of 40 face discrimination at the office. In fact, AARP reports that over half of older workers have seen or experienced age discrimination.
Congress outlawed workplace discrimination against older Americans over 50 years ago in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. However, due to a misguided 2009 Supreme Court ruling, older Americans still face negative employment actions.
As the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission acknowledged in 2018, ``Age discrimination remains a significant and costly problem for workers, their families, and our economy.'' This is simply unacceptable, and it is wrong.
Employees over the age of 40 bring talent, experience, and wisdom to an office. Additionally, these workers are more likely to stay at their companies.
On average, Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 stick with their employers three times as long as employees aged 25 to 34. Even more disheartening is the effect age discrimination has on disabled workers.
Mr. Chairman, I include in the Record a letter from the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities in support of the bill. Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities, Jan. 15, 2020.
Dear Member of Congress: As co-chairs of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Rights Task Force, we write to urge you to support passage of H.R. 1230, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act. We attach our letter of June 10, 2019 in support of the bill. CCD is the largest coalition of national organizations working together to advocate for federal public policy that ensures the self- determination, independence, integration, and inclusion of children and adults with disabilities in all aspects of society. Sincerely, Jennifer Mathis,
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Samantha Crane,
Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. Co-Chairs,
CCD Rights Task Force. Heather Ansley,
Paralyzed Veterans of America. Kelly Buckland,
National Council on Independent Living. ____ Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities, June 10, 2019. Hon. Bobby Scott, Chair, Education and Labor Committee, Washington, DC. Hon. Virginia Foxx, Ranking Member, Education and Labor Committee, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Foxx: As co-chairs of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Rights Task Force, we write to express our strong support for the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA) (H.R. 1230) and the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act (H.R. 873). CCD is the largest coalition of national organizations working together to advocate for federal public policy that ensures the self-determination, independence, integration, and inclusion of children and adults with disabilities in all aspects of society.
POWADA would correct a Supreme Court decision, Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., that narrowly interpreted the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to require that unlawful discrimination be the ``but-for'' cause of an employer's conduct in order to be actionable. Some courts have also applied this but-for cause requirement to claims of disability-based employment discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), making it harder for people with disabilities to prevail on workplace discrimination claims.
POWADA is an important opportunity to restore workplace rights for people with disabilities. People with disabilities have the lowest employment rates of any group tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and their labor force participation rate has consistently been less than half of that of people without disabilities. Attitudinal barriers among employers are among the top reasons for these low rates. It is critically important to address barriers to employment for people with disabilities, and POWADA would help do that.
We also support the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act, which was discussed along with POWADA in your May 21, 2019 hearing on Eliminating Barriers to Employment. This bill would provide incentives to assist providers of subminimum wage employment for people with disabilities to transform the services that they provide to focus instead on competitive integrated employment, and would make grants available to state agencies to collaborate in developing the services needed to support the individuals served by these providers to secure and maintain competitive integrated employment.
The Transformation to Competitive Employment Act represents an important step toward ending the practice of paying subminimum wages to employees with disabilities under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act and expanding the supported employment services needed to ensure that people with disabilities who are served in subminimum wage sheltered workshops to receive the services they need to secure and maintain competitive integrated employment. This bill is another important measure that would bring needed expansion of real employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
We stand ready to work with you to help secure passage of H.R. 1230 and H.R. 873, both of which are important steps to address barriers to full and meaningful employment of people with disabilities. Sincerely, Jennifer Mathis,
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Samantha Crane,
Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. Kelly Buckland,
National Council on Independent Living. Co-Chairs,
CCD Rights Task Force. Mark Richert,
National Disability Institute. Heather Ansley,
Paralyzed Veterans of America.
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Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chair, as it outlines, people with disabilities already face significant barriers to competitive, integrated employment, and we cannot allow another barrier to remain in their way.
Mr. Chair, I am proud to vote in favor of strengthening the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and I thank my good friend, Chairman Scott, for championing this effort.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to join me in restoring justice for American workers and voting in favor of final passage.
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