The key issue regarding mandatory retirement of law firm partners is whether these partners are “employees” protected by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act or real “partners” outside the protection of the ADEA as “employers.”
In Clackamas Gastroenterology Assocs. v. Wells (2003), the US Supreme Court considered the test for determining whether an individual qualifies as an employee and found it to be the common law element of control. The court ruled that “control” is to be analyzed under the following six factors:
“Whether the organization can hire or fire the individual or set the rules of the individual’s work;
Whether, and if so, to what extent the organization supervises the individual’s work;
Whether the individual reports to someone higher in the organization;
Whether, and if so, to what extent the individual is able to influence the organization;
Whether the parties intended that the individual be an employee, as expressed in written agreements or contracts; and
Whether the individual shares in the profits, losses, and liabilities of the organization.”
While Clackamas was decided under the American With...
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