State government policy makers not covered by Age Discrimination in Employment Act [ADEA]
Source: Findlaw.Com Weekly Labor & Employment Law Newsletter, December 27-31, 2010
Opp v. Office of the State's Attorney of Cook County, No. 09-3714 - United States Seventh Circuit, 12/29/2010
”In former assistant state's attorneys' suit against the county state's attorney, claiming unlawful employment termination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), district court's grant of defendants' motions to dismiss in ruling that the plaintiffs were excluded from the ADEA's coverage because they held policymaking positions as a matter of law, is affirmed where:
1) district court's determination as a matter of law of the policymaking status of the plaintiffs' positions was proper because the plaintiffs' positions as assistant state's attorneys gave them inherent policymaking authority, and the plaintiffs' roles as assistant state attorneys were clearly defined by statute; and
2) plaintiffs' argument that they were not appointed by the state's attorney and thus cannot be considered "appointees" on the policymaking level is without merit."
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