Age Bias: Does It Apply to the Young? ; the Supreme Court Wednesday Considers Reverse-Discrimination Claims That Older Workers Are Favored in Retirement Plans

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The Age Discrimination in Employment Act outlaws discrimination against employees because of their age.

Seems simple enough. But is it illegal when the employee being discriminated against is younger than the worker receiving the favored treatment?

Wednesday, the US Supreme Court takes up a major employment case examining whether the 1967 statute is intended exclusively to protect older workers, or whether it also authorizes so-called reverse-discrimination claims by younger workers.

The case holds important implications for many retirement benefit plans and early-retirement packages. To the extent that such plans offer increasingly generous benefit levels …