Judge Clears EEOC Suit Over Yale Hospital's Age-70 Doctor Tests

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A federal lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Yale New Haven Hospital will go to trial, according to an opinion filed Friday. The agency says the hospital forced older physicians to take tests in violation of both the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The case centers on the hospital's "Late Career Practitioner Policy." Physicians and other practitioners aged 70 and up who want to obtain or renew clinical privileges must undergo ophthalmic and neuropsychological testing. Yale says the policy protects patient safety. The EEOC says it is discriminatory.

The court found a trial is necessary to decide whether the age-specific tests were warranted. U.S. District Judge Kari Dooley noted that Yale relies on the undisputed fact that age is the single best indicator of a risk of cognitive decline. In her words, "there are … questions of fact as to whether age is a legitimate proxy for the safety related job qualifications measured by the [policy]."

Age bias in the wider picture

HR Dive describes the case as a complicated corner of age bias, with safety arguments set against claims of discrimination. Earlier EEOC lawsuits turned on specific wording, such as loaded questions like "When are you going to retire?" or the pejorative term "dinobabies."

Lately, many of the most prominent age claims have concerned hiring rather than bias on the job. The class action Mobley, et al. v. Workday has been a watershed for recruiting. It alleges algorithmic age, race and disability discrimination. Whether Workday contributed to age discrimination remains to be seen.

A 2021 WerkLabs study found that 60% of respondents had faced ageism in their professional life. Workers over 40 said they met it more often in the job search than in the workplace. A separate survey by CWI Labs found that a majority of respondents aged 50 and up felt age was an obstacle to getting hired. In 2025, Glassdoor noted that "ageism" appeared in employer reviews more and more, year over year.

"Older workers play a pivotal role in the U.S. labor force," Gary Officer, founder and CEO of CWI Labs, said in a statement at the time of its survey.

Another recent case also turned on safety. Railroad company Norfolk Southern failed to prevail on its safety argument for removing an older worker from duty. The 65-year-old worker was subjected to multiple evaluations and seemed to pass them, but was removed and deemed unsafe to do his job. A jury awarded him $1.6 million, and a judge upheld the decision on Oct. 15.

Source: HR Dive