President Joe Biden Endorses Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia’s Protecting Older Job Applicants Act to Unlock Opportunities for Older Americans and End Ageism

WASHINGTON D.C.— Today, Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29) issued the following statement on the Biden administration's endorsement of the Protecting Older Job Applicants Act of 2021:

"I applaud and thank the Biden administration for endorsing my bill to protect and support older Americans in their job-seeking process," said Congresswoman Garcia. "There is no place for ageism in our country, and we leave no one behind. It is time to expand opportunities for all Americans. I am pleased to see that the administration supports this effort which could unlock opportunities for millions of people who are working to achieve their American dream."

BACKGROUND

The Biden administration endorsement and support for the Protecting Older Job Applicants Act of 2021 (POJA) comes as the House Rules Committee is considering the bill for a floor vote.

The Protect Older Job Applicants (POJA) Act will codify and clarify protections for older job applicants in the current Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) during the first opportunity—the hiring phase. While many employers and legal scholars have interpreted the ADEA as applying to job applicants and employees, two federal circuit court decisions over the last five years (Villareal v. RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company and Kleber v. CareFusion Corp.) ruled that some provisions of the ADEA's federal anti-age discrimination protections only applied to current employees, not job applicants.

However, these court decisions are strict and narrow interpretations of the ADEA, which seek to deprive applicants and workers the protections they rightfully deserve. Additionally, these narrow interpretations contradict the intentions of the ADEA's creators.

POJA seeks to rectify these misguided decisions to specifically include job applicants as protected under the ADEA.

See the Biden administration endorsement here.

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Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2018, becoming the first Latina ever to represent the Texas 29th Congressional District. She serves on the House Judiciary and Financial Services Committees.