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In 1987, Mack Trucks closed a plant in Allentown and moved work to South Carolina. Ten years later, the economy turned around, demand for heavy trucks increased, and Mack began hiring for its Macungie plant.
Initially, Mack offered jobs to former employees, but it stopped when it realized that doing so would increase its pension liability because some laid-off workers were vested and some would have to be given credit for previous service.
Seventy-eight former workers who were not rehired sued the manufacturer for discrimination.
The workers lost in a lower court and in 2002 in the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. Attorney Donald P. Russo of Bethlehem thought of that case last month when the U.S. Supreme Court made it easier for people over the age of 40 to Sue their employers for age discrimination.
In the past, for an age discrimination suit to go forward, older workers had to have proof that their company meant to discriminate against them. They had to meet a higher legal standard.
However, in a 5-3 decision in Smith vs. the City of Jackson (Mississippi) in late March, the justices ruled that employers could be held liable for age discrimination even if their policies or practices were not meant to be discriminatory.
"My first thought when I read the decision was of that Mack Truck case," says Russo. As a result of the high court's decision, the case would have had to go to trial because the former workers, who were older, could have shown the manufacturer's hiring decision had an adverse impact on them. "Whether or not the Mack workers would have won is another question, but I don't believe it would not have been thrown...