Jack Gross lost his job and $46,945.

Photo by Danny Wilcox Frazier/Redux

The issue: Must age discrimination be held to a higher standard of evidence than other bias?

Jack Gross won $46,945 when a federal court jury agreed he’d been a victim of age discrimination.

But Gross will never see it. In fact, he’s spent $30,000 of his own funds in a losing battle with his employer, FBL Financial Services, a Des Moines, Iowa, life insurance and financial services marketing firm. In June the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the verdict, in a 5-4 decision that AARP attorneys say could undermine the ability of older workers to pursue age discrimination cases.

“I was personally disappointed … by what FBL did to me,” Gross said recently. “There is no doubt that they treated me as they did because of my age.”

In 2003, after 28 years of regular promotions and pay raises at FBL, Gross, then 54, was reassigned from the position of claims administration director to claims project coordinator. FBL transferred many of his former responsibilities to a newly created position: claims administration manager. A woman in her 40s got that job, and although both she and Gross received the same compensation, he considered his new job a demotion. He filed suit, claiming that the reassignment violated the 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act. FBL argued that the reassignment was part of a corporate restructuring.

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed Gross’ lower-court victory, ruling that the ADEA requires that age be the primary reason, rather than a “motivating factor,” for his job change. Under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, violations occur when sex, religion or race is a “motivating factor.” In a friend of the court brief, AARP argued that the proof standard for discrimination should be the same for all federal antidiscrimination laws, including the ADEA.

Tom Osborne, senior attorney for AARP Foundation Litigation, called the Supreme Court ruling “a direct assault on the viability of the ADEA. The decision directly jeopardizes the rights of all older workers.” Osborne said that AARP is committed to seeking remedial action from Congress.

What it means to you: You need clear proof if you believe you have been the victim of age discrimination at work. Consult your union or a labor lawyer familiar with the Gross case.

Emily Sachar is a journalist and author based in Brooklyn, N.Y.