After eight years of litigation, a legal battle between ExxonMobil and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over mandatory pilot retirement age has concluded with a ruling by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The appeals panel upheld the previous ruling that the energy company’s policy on mandatory retirement for its corporate pilots at age 60 (later 65) does not violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). According to the court, the defendant proved that its retirement requirement is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ), reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business.
In 2006, two pilots facing forced retirement from ExxonMobil’s flight department filed charges with the EEOC, which then brought suit against the company in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The EEOC’s suit alleged that the company’s policy violated the ADEA, which makes it unlawful for an employer “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, because of an individual’s age.”
More In Regulations and Government
