Legal Terms & Definitions
Administrative Procedure:
The ADEA requires employees to file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That agency is empowered to investigate the charge of discrimination, issue a determination as to whether there has been a violation of the statute, attempt to reach a settlement between the parties, or file suit on behalf of the charging party
Affidavit/Declaration:
A statement that is sworn to be true by the person making the affidavit or declaration. It is admissible in certain points of litigation as evidence of the facts recounted in the statement. Affidavits are signed in front of notary publics, who then notarize the document. Declarations may be used in federal court. They have the same effect as affidavits, but need not be signed in the presence of a notary.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act / ADEA:
The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination in employment against persons age 40 and older.
Anecdotal Evidence:
Anecdotal evidence consists of events or series of events that tend to support a conclusion of discrimination. Such evidence may include individual experiences or stories, and may include statements by employers showing bias, but they need not consist of admissions of age discrimination.
Answer:
The legal document filed by a party against whom a lawsuit has been filed. The answer admits or denies facts alleged in the complaint and sets forth legal defenses to the complaint.
Attorneys' Fees:
Refers to the compensation of attorneys. The ADEA and other anti-discrimination statutes permit an award of attorneys' fees and litigation expenses to a prevailing plaintiff or group of plaintiffs. In the context of class action or collective action litigation, the court must approve any fee award.
A "contingency fee" refers to an arrangement by which the client and attorney agree that the attorney will be compensated if a settlement or judgment is obtained. If no settlement or judgment is obtained, the attorney is not compensated.
Charge of Discrimination:
Refers to the paperwork filed with the administrative agency entrusted to administer the anti-discrimination statute. The charge of discrimination puts the employer on notice of the allegations of discrimination. The filing a such a charge is a legal prerequisite to filing a lawsuit under the ADEA.
Charging Party:
Refers to the person filing a charge of discrimination with an administrative agency. After a lawsuit is filed the person is referred to as the plaintiff.
Civil Action:
A lawsuit involving allegations of civil – as opposed to criminal – wrongdoing.
Class Action:
A lawsuit brought by one or more persons seeking monetary, declaratory, and/or injunctive relief on behalf of all similarly situated individuals. All persons within an approved class are members of that class unless they are given the right to opt out and exercise that right. Most state laws, unlike the ADEA, permit age discrimination claims to be brought as class actions. The ADEA permits only collective actions.
Class Representative: One or more plaintiff identified as representing the class in a lawsuit. Class action lawsuits cannot be brought without persons willing to be plaintiffs and class representatives. Class representatives have a duty to protect the interests of the class members on whose behalf they bring the action. They also have more responsibility in the litigation process, including answering questions and producing documents for discovery and appearing for a deposition. Depending on the class definition, a variety of plaintiffs/class representatives sometimes are needed to represent various components of the workforce.
Collective Action:
The legal term for group litigation alleging violations of the ADEA as well as the Fair Labor Standards Act. There are some important procedural differences between a collective action and a class action. Most significantly, in a collective action, persons must affirmatively opt in to participate.
Complaint:
The legal document filed by a person to commence a lawsuit. See also pleadings.
Discovery:
The period after a lawsuit commences in which the parties exchange information and documents, depose each other's witnesses, and facilitate the analysis of employee data and preparation of expert reports.
Disparate Impact:
A facially neutral employment policy or practice that has the effect of discriminating against a group based on a prohibited characteristic such as age, race, or gender.
Disparate Treatment:
An intent to discriminate against a person or group based on a prohibited characteristic such as age, race or gender.
Direct Evidence:
Evidence that tends to establish a direct causal link between the challenged employment decision and a prohibited characteristic such as age, race or gender, e.g., a statement by a person with hiring authority that an employment candidate is too old to do the job.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC):
The federal agency entrusted to administer the ADEA and most other federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in employment.
Indirect Evidence:
Indirect evidence proves discrimination by inference. The law allows plaintiffs to prove discrimination through indirect evidence. Some common types of indirect evidence are facts showing that similarly situated employees not in the protected class were treated better than those in the protected class, or that the reasons given by an employer for decisions are not the true reasons.
Lawsuit:
The term for litigation after a complaint has been filed with the court.
Litigation:
Refers generically to legal proceedings including the administrative process.
Minnesota Human Rights Act / MHRA:
The Minnesota Human Rights Act is Minnesota's statute prohibiting discrimination. Unlike the ADEA, the age provision of the MHRA prohibits discrimination against anyone age 18 and older. Also unlike the ADEA, the MHRA treats age discrimination in the same way as it treats race, gender, and other types of discrimination.
Motion:
A motion is a request by a party for the Court to decide certain issues in dispute. When a motion has been filed, the parties usually argue the facts and legal points in favor of their respective positions through a written document called a "Memorandum of Law," with accompanying affidavits and document exhibits, and through oral argument before the judge.
Opt in:
Pursuant to procedural rules governing collective actions, persons who are members of a group alleged to have been harmed by a party's wrongdoing may be given notice of the lawsuit and the opportunity to participate in the lawsuit by returning a consent form. The failure to opt-in by a court-established deadline may exclude the members of the group from later receiving the benefits of any settlement or judgment. The participation requirements of "opt-in" plaintiffs are typically less burdensome than for class representatives.
Opt out:
When a class is certified under Rule 23 of the state or federal Rules of Civil Procedure, class members under some circumstances are given the choice to opt out of the class proceedings and, if they choose, to pursue claims independently.
Pattern or Practice:
One way to prove a discrimination claim is to show that the employer engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination. This means that discrimination is the employer's standard operating procedure, or that the practice is routine or of a generalized nature rather than isolated or sporadic.
Plaintiff:
The legal term for the person filing a complaint or lawsuit. See also class representative.
Pleadings:
Refers generically to all court filings beginning with the complaint. Also, refers more specifically to the complaint and answer, which define the legal theories of the parties to the lawsuit.
Retaliation:
A prohibited employment action (e.g., termination or discipline) taken against a person as a result of a his or her participation in a legally protected activity such as filing a charge of discrimination or lawsuit, joining a collective action, class action or giving testimony in a discrimination suit. The ADEA, MHRA, and many other anti-discrimination statutes prohibit retaliation and provide legal remedies to victims of retaliation.
Statistical Proof:
Statistical evidence that tends to show that persons defined by a characteristic such as age, race or gender were treated differently than persons not possessing that characteristic. The United States Supreme Court has held that a significant statistical discrepancy (i.e., two to three standard deviations) in employment decisions affecting members of a protected group compared to other employees is legally sufficient to establish an inference of discrimination against the protected group.
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