United States First Circuit

In an age discrimination action brought by former law enforcement officers and firefighters, district court judgment is affirmed where: 1) Puerto Rico's Law 181 is not invalid as a result of its lower triggering age for mandatory retirement as is is consistent with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; 2) the ADEA does not require that the plaintiffs be given the opportunity to avoid discharge by taking performance tests that could prove their physical and mental fitness to continue working; 3) plaintiffs' claim of age-based animus do not establish that Law 181 was a subterfuge for unlawful discrimination under the ADEA as the Act allows the termination of police officers and firefighters on the basis on age; and 4) the Commmonwealth's decision to lower the mandatory retirement age by ten years and terminate plaintiffs without fitness testing or individualized hearings did not violate plaintiffs' right to due process.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/07/2009
• Published 07/07/2009

Judges

• LIPEZ, Circuit Judge., Before LIPEZ and HOWARD, Circuit Judges, and DiCLERICO, District Judge.

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Ariel Hernandez Santana, with whom Jesus Hernandez Sanchez and Hernandez Sanchez Law Firm were on brief, for appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Susana I. Peñagarícano-Brown, Assistant Solicitor General, with whom Salvador J. Antonetti-Stutts, Solicitor General, Mariana Negrón-Vargas, Deputy Solicitor General, and Maite D. Oronoz-Rodríguez, Deputy Solicitor General, were on brief, for appellees.