Wanda L. Adams v. Florida Power Corporation

**Adams v. Florida Power Corporation: Court Rules on Age Discrimination Claims** Wanda Adams sued Florida Power Corporation claiming age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The key issue wasn't whether Adams faced direct discrimination, but whether she could use a legal theory called "disparate impact" to prove her case. Disparate impact claims argue that seemingly neutral workplace policies actually harm older workers disproportionately, even if there was no intent to discriminate. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Adams, deciding that workers cannot use disparate impact claims under the ADEA. The court found that the age discrimination law is different from other civil rights laws like Title VII (which covers race and sex discrimination) and doesn't allow this type of claim. The court based its decision on the specific language Congress used when writing the ADEA and the law's legislative history. This ruling matters because it makes age discrimination cases harder to win. Workers claiming age discrimination must now prove their employer intentionally discriminated against them because of their age. They cannot rely on showing that workplace policies had a disproportionate negative effect on older employees, which can be easier to demonstrate with statistics and data.