The Supreme Court Speaks:

At the end of this term, the Supreme Court issued two major decisions under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Addressing a decision issued only three years before, the court considered in Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory whether the employee in a disparate impact case under the ADEA bears the burden of persuasion on the “reasonable factors other than age” defense. In Kentucky Retirement Systems v. EEOC, the court considered whether the ADEA is violated where disabled workers receive greater retirement benefits than older workers who retire with “normal” retirement benefits. Our expert panel addresses the thorny problems raised by these decisions for lawyers trying to address employment decisions that have an impact on older workers.

Dianna  B. Johnston is the assistant legal counsel for the Title VII/Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)/Equal Pay Act (EPA) division of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  The division provides legal advice and assists the commissioners in developing agency policy on new and complex employment discrimination issues under Title VII, ADEA, and EPA. She has served in the Office of Legal Counsel since 1988.  She previously worked in the Commission's Appellate Division and, during her six years there, argued ADEA, Title VII, and EPA cases before nine of the federal Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Laurie McCann is a Senior Attorney with AARP Foundation Litigation. She has prepared numerous amicus curiae briefs on behalf of AARP in cases before the United States Supreme Court, most recently in Kentucky Retirement Systems v. EEOC and Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, as well as in other federal and state courts. McCann is a noted speaker on the aging work force. She has lectured on age discrimination, downsizing, and employee benefit issues at the Second World Assembly on Aging as well as conferences sponsored by the American Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association, and the District of Columbia Bar Association. Due to her expertise in employment discrimination law, she is widely quoted in the media. She is the Co-editor of the Age Discrimination chapters of the First and Second Supplements to treatise Employment Discrimination Law, 3d edition (BNA). Her publications include The ADEA and the Eleventh Amendment, 2 Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal 241 (1998).

Donald S. Prophete serves on the Board of Directors of Ogletree Deakins.  He has served as lead trial counsel in all types of employment disputes in federal and state courts, including jury trials for major national employers.  In January 2008, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights appointed Mr. Prophete to serve as Chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Commission, for a two-year term.  In January 2002, President George W. Bush announced his intention to nominate Mr. Prophete to be General Counsel of the EEOC. While honored, Mr. Prophete ultimately withdrew his name from consideration to remain in Kansas City.  Mr. Prophete  is listed in Chambers USA – America’s Leading Business Lawyers, as a leader in the employment law field, has been recognized by Super Lawyers magazine as being in the top 5% of attorneys in Missouri and Kansas and  Legal 500 has recognized Mr. Prophete as one of the leading employment litigation attorneys in the U.S.

Julie Richard-Spencer (moderator) is a shareholder in the firm Robein, Urann, Spencer, Picard and Cangemi, P.L.C. She represents and counsels labor unions and workers on all areas of labor and employment law in an active litigation practice. Ms. Richard-Spencer is the Union Co-chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee of the American Bar Association's Labor and Employment Section.  She has also served as the Chairman of the Louisiana Bar Association's Labor and Employment Section. She was admitted to the Louisiana bar in 1990. Ms. Richard-Spencer is a contributing editor to the treatise Employment Discrimination Law (BNA). She is a frequent speaker on labor and employment issues.

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