Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc.

Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., 557 U.S. 167 (2009), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2009, involving the standard of proof required for a claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

Gross v. FBL Financial Services
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 31, 2009 Decided June 18, 2009
Full case name	Jack Gross, Petitioner v. FBL Financial Services, Inc.
Docket no.	08-441
Citations	557 U.S. 167 (more) 129 S. Ct. 2343; 174 L. Ed. 2d 119
Holding
A plaintiff must prove, by preponderance of evidence, that age was the "but for" cause of the adverse employment action.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy · David Souter Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
Majority	Thomas, joined by Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Alito
Dissent	Stevens, joined by Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer
Dissent	Breyer, joined by Souter, Ginsburg
Laws applied
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2

Jack Gross, an employee of FBL Financial Services, Inc., was transferred to another position and a former subordinate took on many of Gross' old responsibilities. They both received the same compensation, but Gross believed his reassignment was a demotion. Gross brought suit against FBL in April 2004 in District Court, claiming ADEA violations. The court found in his favor and awarded him $5,000,000 in lost compensation. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the decision. The Supreme Court affirmed that reversal, finding that a plaintiff must prove by preponderance of evidence, that age was the "but for" cause of the adverse employment action.