Nearly 40 percent of the people in Virginia’s Sixth Congressional District are 50 years or older. So Congressman Cline should be especially sensitive to the problems faced by older workers.
He’s not. Cline joined most other House Republicans to vote against the bipartisan Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act.
This bill amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to establish an unlawful employment practice when the complaining party demonstrates that age or participation in investigations, proceedings, or litigation under such Act was a motivating factor for any unlawful employment practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice (thereby allowing what are commonly known as “mixed motive” claims).
The bill (1) permits a complaining party to rely on any type or form of admissible evidence, which need only be sufficient for a reasonable trier of fact to find that an unlawful practice occurred; and (2) declares that a complaining party shall not be required to demonstrate that age or retaliation was the sole cause of the employment practice (thereby rejecting the Supreme Court’s decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., which requires a complainant to prove that age was the “but-for” cause for the employer’s decision).
The bill passed with the votes of 227 Democrats and 34 Republicans. Cline and 153 other Republicans voted no.
One of the leading Republican supporters of the bill is Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York. As you may recall, Cline sent out a fundraising appeal for her reelection campaign following her outspoken support for President Trump during House hearings on impeachment.
So Cline helped Stefanik when she joined him in defending a corrupt Republican president engaged in abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, but couldn’t bring himself to join her on a simple matter of workplace justice for older Americans.
Cline Watch 