May an employee assert a hostile work environment claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)? In Blumenshine v. Bloomington School District No. 87, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit responded affirmatively, and, in so doing, joined a number of its sister circuits that had previously recognized such a claim. This case serves as a significant reminder to employers to understand how age discrimination can manifest in the workplace and the legal standards required to prove such claims.

• The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals joined multiple other federal courts of appeals in finding that hostile work environment claims are viable under the ADEA.
• As part of stating an age discrimination claim, an employee must establish that the complained-of conduct is based on his or her age.
• Speculative and conclusory allegations are not sufficient to support a claim of age-based harassment.

The plaintiff was a long-tenured and “exemplary” teacher with the Bloomington School District, in Bloomington, Illinois, who had taught at the same school for eighteen years until her transfer to another school to replace a struggling, less-experienced teacher. The transfer did not go smoothly, with the teacher alleging that she had been assigned a disproportionate number of behaviorally challenged students, erroneously criticized for her job performance, not provided with adequate classroom support, and, on one occasion, subjected to an administrator who acted in an...

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