General Dynamics was sued by about 200 people in their 40s for age discrimination when it excluded younger workers from receiving retirement benefits offered. The company changed its retirement benefits in 1997, making it so that only longtime workers age 50 or older could receive full health benefits after retirement. The 40-something workers say they are victims of reverse age discrimination because they are too young to get the benefits being offered. A 1967 federal law protects workers over 40 from age discrimination and allows them to sue when younger colleagues get preferential treatment because of age. The discrimination law is silent on the type of claim brought about by workers in the General Dynamics case and may prompt Congress to rewrite the law.
See "Court Weighing in on Age Discrimination", The New York Times, November 11, 2003