Richard M. Villarreal v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Although every case is important to the litigants involved, not every case is independently significant. But this one is, and it has the potential to create bad law in two important areas. The majority first holds — and it is the only court ever to do so — that Section 4(a)(2) of the ADEA authorizes disparate impact claims brought by job applicants. It gets there by finding that Section 4(a)(2) is ambiguous and that Mr. Villarreal’s reading of the statute is *1307reasonable, thereby warranting deference to the EEOC’s longstanding position that it protects applicants for hire. The majority further…