Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory

**What happened:** Older workers at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory sued the company for age discrimination, claiming they were unfairly targeted during layoffs. The company defended itself by arguing it had "reasonable factors other than age" (RFOA) for its decisions - essentially saying age wasn't the main reason for the layoffs, even if older workers were disproportionately affected. **What the court decided:** The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the workers, but with an important clarification about how age discrimination cases work. The Court determined that when employers use the RFOA defense, they don't have to prove their decisions were completely free from age considerations. However, they must show that age was not the primary determining factor in their employment decisions. **Why this matters for workers:** This ruling makes it somewhat easier for older workers to win age discrimination cases. Employers can't simply claim they had other reasons for their actions and automatically win. Instead, they must demonstrate that age genuinely wasn't the main factor driving their decisions. While the ruling doesn't eliminate the RFOA defense entirely, it requires employers to provide more convincing evidence that their employment practices weren't primarily based on age bias.