Opinion: 434 U.S. 575 (1978)

HOLDING:  The Age Discrimination in Employment Act provides parties with a right to a jury trial. 

Frances P. Pons sued Lorillard, her former employer, under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA).  Lorillard moved to strike the plaintiff’s demand for a jury trial and the District Court held that Pons was not entitled to a trial by jury.  The Fourth Circuit reversed, and the Supreme Court agreed with the appellate court. 

The Supreme Court held that in a private civil action for lost wages under the ADEA, a trial by jury is available when one party requests it because the ADEA’s structure shows that Congress intended for a jury trial to be available.  The ADEA states that it should be enforced in accordance with the “powers, remedies, and procedures” of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which had already been widely interpreted to grant the right to a jury trial in actions for lost wages.  The ADEA also provides that “legal” relief is available, and “legal” relief is a term of art indicating there is a Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.