The ADEA prevents age discrimination and provides equal employment opportunity under the conditions that were not explicitly covered in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

[3] It protects U.S. citizens working for U.S. employers operating abroad, except where it would violate the laws of that country.

[7][8] The United States Supreme Court, in Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, 554 U.S. 84 (2008), held that the employer, not the employee, bears the burden of proving that a layoff or other action that hurts older workers more than others was based not on age but on some other “reasonable factor.”[9] In Gomez-Perez v. Potter (2008), the Supreme Court allowed federal workers, who experience retaliation as a result of reporting age discrimination under the law, to sue for damages.

[12] In Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., 557 U.S. 167 (2009), the Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff must prove by that age was the "but for" cause of the challenged employment action.

In it, the court ruled that plaintiffs only need to prove that age was a motivating factor in the decision in order to sue.

[14][15] ADEA remedies include compensatory for employee or damages if reinstatement is not feasible and/or employer's violation is intentional.