Congress Passes the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act supplemented the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which in Title VII prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin — but did not cover age.
The age discrimination act was one of the many major legislative achievements of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1965 Immigration Reform Act.
The law: “(b) It is therefore the purpose of this chapter to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment.”
Learn more: Malcolm Sargeant, Age Discrimination and Diversity: Multiple Discrimination from an Age Perspective (2011)
Learn more at the EEOC: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/age.cfm