Is Age Discrimination Really Age Discrimination?: The Adea's Unnatural Solution

New York University Law Review, October 1997

61 Pages Posted: 29 Apr 1997 Last revised: 17 Sep 2013

See all articles by Samuel Issacharoff

Samuel Issacharoff

New York University School of Law

Erica Worth

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of T

Abstract

This article questions the premises behind the use of the antidiscrimination model to address the obstacles faced by older employees. By viewing aging against the career wage model, the article identifies predictable problems faced by employees at the tail end of their careers, but questions the appropriateness of treating these as discrimination claims. In particular, the 1986 and 1991 amendments to the ADEA are analyzed to show how the discrimination model can be misused as a pretext for an intergenerational wealth transfer to the generation approaching retirement. That process is facilitated by the effective lobbying efforts of powerful institutional actors, such as the AARP. The article examines the operation of actual programs of mandatory retirement and the Older Workers Benefits Protection Act and concludes with recommendations for institutional reforms in light of the abolition of mandatory retirement.

JEL Classification: J14, J71, K31

Suggested Citation

Issacharoff, Samuel and Worth, Erica, Is Age Discrimination Really Age Discrimination?: The Adea's Unnatural Solution. New York University Law Review, October 1997, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=10418

Samuel Issacharoff (Contact Author)

New York University School of Law ( email )

40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012-1099
United States
212-998-6580 (Phone)
212-995-3150 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://rb.gy/qjco8e

Erica Worth

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of T

TX
United States

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