Justice Stephen G. Breyer cited precedents from the 1960s as well as amendments by Congress in 1991 that said the law should be read broadly as a protection against racial bias. "We hold [the old law] encompasses claims of retaliation," Breyer said in CBOCS West vs. Humphries.
Only Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia dissented. "Retaliation is not discrimination based on race," Thomas wrote. "The injury he suffers is not on account of his race; rather, it is the result of his conduct."
The second decision concerned federal employees only. In 1967, Congress made it illegal for private employers to discriminate against workers because of their age, but the provision did not apply to the government. A separate provision said "all personnel actions" involving federal employees "shall be made free from any discrimination based on age."
Myrna Gomez-Perez was 45 when she was denied a transfer and allegedly harassed after complaining of age bias. But a federal judge in Puerto Rico and the U.S. court of appeals in Boston threw out her suit for retaliation, saying the law did not cover such claims.
"The key question in this case is whether the statutory phrase 'discrimination based on age' includes retaliation based on the filing of an age discrimination complaint. We hold that it does," Alito said for the court.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. dissented, along with Scalia and Thomas. Roberts said the federal civil service rules protected federal workers from retaliation, and, therefore, the anti-age-bias law should not be stretched to include these claims as well.
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david.savage@latimes.com
